Susquehanna Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Stock

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price objective hoisted by Susquehanna from $45.00 to $52.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a positive rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on KNX. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $44.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $46.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Six 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $53.13.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Up 0.6%

KNX opened at $44.27 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.77. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 52 week low of $36.69 and a 52 week high of $61.51. The company has a market capitalization of $7.17 billion, a PE ratio of 47.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 2.79%. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 9th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.60%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 20,550 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 192 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 6,687 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $355,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,769 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,882 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,301 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 235 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.