Susquehanna Cuts Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Price Target to $59.00

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its target price lowered by Susquehanna from $62.00 to $59.00 in a report published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on KNX. TheStreet raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a research report on Monday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $62.55.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE:KNX opened at $55.02 on Monday. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1 year low of $45.73 and a 1 year high of $60.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a PE ratio of 41.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The transportation company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $1.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 3.04% and a return on equity of 3.93%. On average, equities analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. 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 48.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total transaction of $112,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,836.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 3.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,021,291 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $865,977,000 after acquiring an additional 57,000 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,715,804 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $906,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,137,296 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 63.8% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,697 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 661 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bullseye Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. Bullseye Asset Management LLC now owns 43,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.