Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Stock

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its target price raised by Barclays from $62.00 to $68.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Raymond James raised their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.38.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

NYSE KNX opened at $57.06 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 248.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 0.93. Knight-Swift Transportation has a fifty-two week low of $45.55 and a fifty-two week high of $60.99. The business has a fifty day moving average of $52.87 and a 200-day moving average of $50.91.

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

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is currently 278.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert E. Synowicki, Jr. sold 2,500 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.32, for a total transaction of $133,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 21,833 shares in the company, valued at $1,164,135.56. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KNX. Interval Partners LP grew its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 8,520.1% in the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 1,293,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $64,547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278,011 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 1,728.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,330,934 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $66,440,000 after purchasing an additional 1,258,157 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 27.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,431,299 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $271,121,000 after buying an additional 1,176,069 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 309.7% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,068,323 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $53,331,000 after buying an additional 807,572 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,594,817 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $379,133,000 after buying an additional 744,412 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Knight-Swift Transportation

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.