Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $55.94.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reduced their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $68.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Raymond James decreased their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $66.00 to $55.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America downgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $48.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE KNX opened at $39.84 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $52.20. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12 month low of $36.69 and a 12 month high of $61.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.57 and a beta of 1.16.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.81%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 98.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Douglas L. Col purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $45.37 per share, with a total value of $226,850.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,850. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 1st quarter worth $791,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 3,369.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 46,317 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,014,000 after acquiring an additional 44,982 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the fourth quarter valued at about $240,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the fourth quarter worth about $497,000. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 4th quarter worth about $2,796,000. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by 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.