Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Short Interest Update

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,150,000 shares, a decrease of 29.1% from the February 28th total of 8,670,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 3.9% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on KNX. Citigroup upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Benchmark began coverage on Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $63.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $55.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.59.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KNX traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $43.74. The stock had a trading volume of 2,585,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,216,547. The company has a market cap of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.91 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $50.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1 year low of $42.31 and a 1 year high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.43% and a net margin of 1.59%. Research analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.63%.

Insider Activity at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other news, Director Douglas L. Col purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $45.37 per share, with a total value of $226,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $226,850. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the third quarter worth $88,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,146,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,878,000 after purchasing an additional 26,346 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 9.9% during the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 12,197 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 180.6% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 81,266 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,392,000 after buying an additional 52,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 116.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 130,794 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $7,056,000 after buying an additional 70,276 shares during the period. 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.