Sanford C. Bernstein Initiates Coverage on Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX)

Equities researchers at Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $91.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock. Sanford C. Bernstein’s price target points to a potential upside of 31.91% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $90.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Finally, Benchmark upped their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.26.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Down 2.5%

KNX opened at $68.99 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $11.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 265.34, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $71.77 and its 200-day moving average is $67.87. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1-year low of $38.63 and a 1-year high of $82.86.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.05 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.56% and a return on equity of 3.51%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. Knight-Swift Transportation has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.710-0.770 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Vander Ploeg sold 2,200 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.33, for a total transaction of $115,126.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 30,252 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,583,087.16. The trade was a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Reid Dove sold 126,864 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.13, for a total transaction of $9,277,564.32. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 224,954 shares of company stock valued at $16,183,454. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KNX. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 7,314.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,279,801 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,111,968,000 after acquiring an additional 14,087,203 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,918,523 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $675,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,468,293 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation in the second quarter worth approximately $173,669,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 513.6% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,416,865 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $126,354,000 after buying an additional 2,022,996 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,070,000. 88.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knight-Swift Transportation Company Profile

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.