Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Lowered to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has $47.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $53.00.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Stephens reduced their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Loop Capital downgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their target price for the company from $63.00 to $53.00 in a report on Thursday, April 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $57.71.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KNX opened at $46.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $53.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.15. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1-year low of $45.73 and a 1-year high of $60.99. The company has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 69.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released 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). Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.50% and a return on equity of 2.54%. The business had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.73 EPS. Knight-Swift Transportation’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a boost from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 67.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 628 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 136.5% in the 4th quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 667 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 80.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 732 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.