California Public Employees Retirement System Reduces Position in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,009,486 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 15,932 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.63% of Knight-Swift Transportation worth $58,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter valued at about $213,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 35.2% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,855 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the period. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter worth approximately $300,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 10,997 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $634,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter worth approximately $150,000. 88.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 2.8 %

KNX stock opened at $47.14 on Friday. 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 Holdings Inc. has a 52-week low of $45.73 and a 52-week high of $60.99. The company has a 50-day moving average of $53.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $0.12 earnings per share (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 2.53%. The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.73 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 1.31 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date 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 presently 95.52%.

Insider Activity at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were 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 $287,836.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on KNX. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Friday. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.71.

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.