Stifel Nicolaus Raises Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Price Target to $48.00

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its target price boosted by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $47.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target indicates a potential downside of 9.13% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $48.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James increased their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Barclays raised their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.94.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

KNX stock traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $52.82. 446,207 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,062,601. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 128.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.92. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 52 week low of $45.55 and a 52 week high of $60.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $52.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.37.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 1.98% and a net margin of 0.88%. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total transaction of $2,318,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,422,360 shares in the company, valued at $73,294,210.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total transaction of $2,318,850.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,422,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $73,294,210.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.33, for a total value of $1,509,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,467,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,852,228.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 85,196 shares of company stock valued at $4,367,869 over the last quarter. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Interval Partners LP boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 8,520.1% in the second quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 1,293,011 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $64,547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278,011 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1,728.8% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,330,934 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $66,440,000 after acquiring an additional 1,258,157 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 27.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,431,299 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $271,121,000 after acquiring an additional 1,176,069 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 309.7% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,068,323 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $53,331,000 after buying an additional 807,572 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,594,817 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $379,133,000 after buying an additional 744,412 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.