Acadian Asset Management LLC Buys Shares of 1,845 Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,845 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $91,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the fourth quarter valued at $1,290,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 210.4% during the fourth quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 3,418 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 2,317 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 118,620 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $6,838,000 after purchasing an additional 5,033 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 161,243 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $9,296,000 after purchasing an additional 7,904 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 20,872 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,683 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Michael K. Liu sold 5,696 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total value of $304,679.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total value of $2,318,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,422,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,294,210.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael K. Liu sold 5,696 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total value of $304,679.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 85,196 shares of company stock valued at $4,367,869 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

KNX opened at $52.21 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $51.99 and its 200 day moving average is $50.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 77.93, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.93. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $45.55 and a 12-month high of $60.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The transportation company reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 1.98% and a net margin of 0.88%. The company’s revenue was up 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 1.1 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.52%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on KNX shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a report on Friday, June 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $56.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com raised Knight-Swift Transportation to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.14.

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.