Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,630,000 shares, a growth of 16.0% from the March 15th total of 3,130,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,980,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days.

Insider Activity at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $112,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $287,836.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 76,395 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,855,000 after buying an additional 13,808 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 57.6% in the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 14,450 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $729,000 after acquiring an additional 5,283 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 23.6% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 13,997 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $706,000 after acquiring an additional 2,677 shares during the last quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.8% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 211,351 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $11,126,000 after acquiring an additional 7,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 141,380 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,135,000 after purchasing an additional 8,923 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 1st. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $54.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.75.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Shares of KNX traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $50.77. 2,085,635 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,943,600. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12 month low of $45.73 and a 12 month high of $60.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of 38.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.27.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The transportation company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.38). Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 3.04% and a return on equity of 3.93%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.92 billion. Equities analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.35 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This is an increase from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is presently 48.12%.

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.