Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Price Target Raised to $79.00 at UBS Group

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price target boosted by UBS Group from $66.00 to $79.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

KNX has been the subject of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.71.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

NYSE:KNX opened at $65.74 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $59.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.46. The stock has a market cap of $10.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 313.07, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 1.11. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1-year low of $37.76 and a 1-year high of $67.75.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 2.44%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 195.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related news, CFO Joshua Smith sold 5,770 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.91, for a total transaction of $351,450.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,214 shares in the company, valued at $561,224.74. This represents a 38.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO James L. Fitzsimmons sold 5,917 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.77, for a total transaction of $324,074.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 8,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $477,375.32. This trade represents a 40.44% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 42,930 shares of company stock worth $2,581,186 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KNX. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 23.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth acquired a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the first quarter worth about $451,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 6.9% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,724 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 57.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,087,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $48,110,000 after purchasing an additional 398,116 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 54.3% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 491,702 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $21,748,000 after purchasing an additional 172,956 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Knight-Swift Transportation

Here are the key news stories impacting Knight-Swift Transportation this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised targets and set bullish ratings (UBS to $79, TD Cowen to $78, Benchmark to $75, Stifel/Baird to ~$70), boosting investor optimism about upside. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen and other analysts highlighted industry-level positives — tighter truckload capacity, regulatory tailwinds, and potential margin improvement — supporting Buy ratings. TD Cowen / TipRanks note
• Positive Sentiment: The stock printed an all-time intraday high (reported at $66.99), which can attract momentum/technical buying. Investing.com: All-time high
• Neutral Sentiment: Knight-Swift issued its Q1 press release and held a conference call/slides for investors — useful for drilling into forward commentary and guidance. BusinessWire: Q1 release
• Neutral Sentiment: Transcript and slide deck from the earnings call are available for detail on fleet utilization, pricing, and cost pressures. Seeking Alpha: Q1 call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 headline results were weak — EPS was down year-over-year and the company reported a swing to a first-quarter loss, citing a tighter truckload market and higher fuel costs; that pressure shows up in margin compression. WSJ: First-quarter loss
• Negative Sentiment: Consensus EPS comparisons are mixed across outlets (some report a miss versus consensus), leaving near-term earnings visibility weak and keeping valuation under scrutiny. MarketBeat: Q1 recap

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.