Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 280,121 Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Free Report) by 42.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 933,359 shares of the transportation company's stock after buying an additional 280,121 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.58% of Knight-Swift Transportation worth $49,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KNX. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 87.2% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 747 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 71.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,201 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 20.5% during the 4th quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,254 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company's stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Down 2.6 %

NYSE KNX traded down $1.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $52.02. 5,173,363 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,275,911. The firm has a market cap of $8.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.25 and a beta of 0.99. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $54.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.55 and a fifty-two week high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. Analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Knight-Swift Transportation's payout ratio is currently 87.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a "neutral" rating to a "positive" rating and raised their target price for the company from $48.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.38.

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.