Raymond James & Associates Acquires 354 Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,144 shares of the transportation company’s stock after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation were worth $1,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 136.5% during the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 667 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 543.2% during the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 939 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 793 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 25.0% during the 3rd quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 1,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 2nd quarter valued at $61,000. 88.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KNX. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays lowered their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Stephens reduced their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.77.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of KNX stock opened at $48.16 on Friday. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.73 and a 52-week high of $60.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a PE ratio of 36.21, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $54.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.18.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The transportation company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.38). Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 3.93% and a net margin of 3.04%. The business had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. On average, analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $112,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,836.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.