Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Upgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group to “Buy” Rating

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $65.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $45.00.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on KNX. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $44.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $63.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.67.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE KNX opened at $43.99 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.26 and a beta of 1.18. Knight-Swift Transportation has a fifty-two week low of $36.69 and a fifty-two week high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.60%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Douglas L. Col acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $45.37 per share, with a total value of $226,850.00. Following the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KNX. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 8,856.8% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,647,150 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $70,704,000 after buying an additional 1,628,760 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 320.7% during the 4th quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 1,754,822 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $93,076,000 after buying an additional 1,337,727 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 4th quarter worth about $65,839,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 54,434.0% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 1,103,768 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,003,000 after buying an additional 1,101,744 shares during the period. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 102,633.9% during the 1st quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 922,805 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,133,000 after buying an additional 923,705 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

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.