Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Stock Rating Lowered by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $47.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $53.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital lowered shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their price target for the company from $63.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $50.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $57.71.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:KNX opened at $46.89 on Friday. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 52 week low of $45.73 and a 52 week high of $60.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.52 and a 200 day moving average of $54.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 69.99, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.82 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.50% and a return on equity of 2.54%. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.73 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. This is an increase from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knight-Swift Transportation

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 shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total transaction of $112,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,836.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KNX. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the first quarter worth about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 67.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 628 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 136.5% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 667 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the third quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 80.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 732 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.