Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $82.46 and last traded at $82.44, with a volume of 3620812 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $79.25.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KNX has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Susquehanna raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Evercore raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.19.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $13.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 392.59, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $67.11 and a 200 day moving average of $59.38. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.20). The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 2.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 380.95%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,918,523 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $675,380,000 after acquiring an additional 2,468,293 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,496,137 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $335,682,000 after acquiring an additional 76,342 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,458,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $486,995,000 after acquiring an additional 60,750 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,676,422 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $244,250,000 after acquiring an additional 315,192 shares during the period. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 50.4% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 2,939,212 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $153,662,000 after buying an additional 984,422 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Knight-Swift Transportation

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc (NYSE: KNX) is one of North America’s largest asset-based truckload carriers, offering a wide range of transportation and logistics services. The company was formed in 2017 through the merger of Knight Transportation and Swift Transportation, each with decades of experience in long-haul dry van and refrigerated freight. Since the merger, Knight-Swift has pursued a growth strategy that includes fleet expansions, targeted acquisitions, and investments in technology to enhance service reliability and network efficiency.

The company’s core business activities include full truckload operations for dry van, temperature-controlled and flatbed shipments.