Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Stock Rating Lowered by Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has $47.00 price objective on the transportation company’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $53.00.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on KNX. Bank of America cut their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Loop Capital downgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Stephens cut their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an in-line rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $57.71.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $46.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 69.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.99. Knight-Swift Transportation has a one year low of $45.73 and a one year high of $60.99. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $54.15.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $1.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.54% and a net margin of 1.50%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.73 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 95.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Knight-Swift Transportation 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 transaction of $112,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $287,836.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KNX. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 67.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 628 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 136.5% in the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 667 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 80.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 732 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.