Barclays Raises Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Price Target to $68.00

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $62.00 to $68.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup cut Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.38.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE:KNX opened at $55.63 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $53.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.00. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12 month low of $45.55 and a 12 month high of $60.99. The company has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 241.88, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.93.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 1.81% and a net margin of 0.50%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is presently 278.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total value of $1,703,061.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $28,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,754,625.90. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the first quarter worth about $1,935,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 263,033 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $13,131,000 after buying an additional 21,689 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 21.0% in the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 89,821 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,942,000 after acquiring an additional 15,600 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the first quarter worth approximately $3,162,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 12.7% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 133,178 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,328,000 after acquiring an additional 15,040 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.