Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $35.24 Million Position in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Free Report) by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 653,238 shares of the transportation company's stock after purchasing an additional 115,447 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.40% of Knight-Swift Transportation worth $35,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.8% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,633 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $1,230,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. United Services Automobile Association now owns 12,770 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 900 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 5,182 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $280,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.7% in the second quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 6,981 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $348,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,703,061.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $28,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,754,625.90. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Knight-Swift Transportation stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $53.26. 600,615 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,036,967. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $55.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.54. The firm has a market cap of $8.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 231.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.96. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a 1-year low of $45.55 and a 1-year high of $60.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 1.81% and a net margin of 0.50%. Knight-Swift Transportation's revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.20%. Knight-Swift Transportation's payout ratio is 278.26%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James raised their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $57.00.

Knight-Swift Transportation Profile

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides freight transportation services in the United States and Mexico. The company operates through four segments: Truckload, Less-than-truckload (LTL), Logistics, and Intermodal. The Truckload segment provides transportation services, which include irregular route and dedicated, refrigerated, expedited, flatbed, and cross-border operations.