Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Receives Buy Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reiterated their buy rating on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $63.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on KNX. Raymond James lowered their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $66.00 to $55.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. StockNews.com raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.00.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of KNX opened at $38.16 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.27 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $46.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.91. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12-month low of $36.69 and a 12-month high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This is a boost from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Douglas L. Col purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,850. This represents a ? increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 88.7% in the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 685 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI grew its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 167.2% during the fourth quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 1,336 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knight-Swift Transportation Company 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.