Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Shares Gap Down to $50.78

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $50.78, but opened at $46.02. Knight-Swift Transportation shares last traded at $48.88, with a volume of 8,330,427 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna cut their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.77.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $54.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.17, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.99.

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 business had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $287,836.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State of Michigan Retirement System increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 47,731 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $2,626,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,371,944 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $185,524,000 after buying an additional 311,788 shares in the last quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC now owns 99,098 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $5,452,000 after buying an additional 1,316 shares in the last quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 339,311 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $18,669,000 after buying an additional 5,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 25,320 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,393,000 after buying an additional 6,015 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

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.