Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Price Target Lowered to $49.00 at TD Securities

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price target lowered by TD Securities from $55.00 to $49.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. StockNews.com raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America lowered Knight-Swift Transportation from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $66.00 to $55.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $51.19.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:KNX opened at $40.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.29 and a beta of 1.16. The business’s 50-day moving average is $44.71 and its 200 day moving average is $51.40. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1 year low of $36.69 and a 1 year high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. On average, research analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.78%. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is presently 98.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Douglas L. Col bought 5,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,850. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,021,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,175,335 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,340,000 after purchasing an additional 28,387 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 21.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,242,000 after buying an additional 115,447 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc. lifted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 199.2% during the 4th quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 29,625 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 19,725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the 4th quarter valued at about $749,000. 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.