Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research analysts have also commented on KNX. Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 price target on Knight-Swift Transportation in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Citizens Jmp started coverage on Knight-Swift Transportation in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. They set a “market outperform” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.22.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 0.2%

KNX opened at $60.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.87 billion, a PE ratio of 65.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $65.94. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1-year low of $41.24 and a 1-year high of $82.86.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The transportation company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.07. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.92% and a return on equity of 4.71%. The firm had revenue of $2.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.32 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, CEO Reid Dove sold 126,864 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.13, for a total transaction of $9,277,564.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Vander Ploeg sold 2,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.33, for a total transaction of $115,126.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 30,252 shares in the company, valued at $1,583,087.16. This represents a 6.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 171,354 shares of company stock valued at $12,416,002. 2.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,458,088 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $486,995,000 after buying an additional 60,750 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation in the 2nd quarter valued at $173,669,000. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 842,644 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,519,000 after purchasing an additional 166,919 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 38.9% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 595,649 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $34,297,000 after purchasing an additional 166,668 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 523,801 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $30,160,000 after purchasing an additional 138,949 shares in the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Knight-Swift Transportation

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides freight services across North America. The company operates one of the largest truckload fleets in the United States and serves a broad range of industries through its network of company-owned equipment, independent contractors, terminals and distribution facilities.

Its services include dry-van, refrigerated and flatbed truckload transportation; dedicated and expedited delivery; less-than-truckload shipping; freight brokerage; intermodal transportation; cross-border logistics; and warehousing and other supply-chain services.