Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Stephens

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) was upgraded by analysts at Stephens to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KNX. Susquehanna raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. Barclays raised their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $77.18.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $75.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.18. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 52-week low of $38.63 and a 52-week high of $82.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 357.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.18.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.09 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.20). Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 2.94%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.28 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Strs Ohio increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 448,471 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $23,446,000 after buying an additional 88,707 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 44.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 2,430,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $127,087,000 after acquiring an additional 745,787 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,676,422 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $244,250,000 after purchasing an additional 315,192 shares during the period. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 412.0% in the third quarter. Aristotle Capital Boston LLC now owns 301,450 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $11,910,000 after purchasing an additional 242,573 shares during the period. Finally, Junto Capital Management LP increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 252.4% in the third quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 2,262,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $89,377,000 after purchasing an additional 1,620,224 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Company Profile

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc (NYSE: KNX) is one of North America’s largest asset-based truckload carriers, offering a wide range of transportation and logistics services. The company was formed in 2017 through the merger of Knight Transportation and Swift Transportation, each with decades of experience in long-haul dry van and refrigerated freight. Since the merger, Knight-Swift has pursued a growth strategy that includes fleet expansions, targeted acquisitions, and investments in technology to enhance service reliability and network efficiency.

The company’s core business activities include full truckload operations for dry van, temperature-controlled and flatbed shipments.