Benchmark Begins Coverage on Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX)

Benchmark began coverage on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $63.00 target price on the transportation company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on KNX. StockNews.com raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James increased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.59.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

NYSE KNX opened at $48.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.95 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $53.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.89. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $45.55 and a twelve month high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.43% and a net margin of 1.59%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.47%. This is an increase from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.63%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter worth approximately $497,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the 4th quarter worth $2,796,000. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 21,143 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,121,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC purchased a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the 4th quarter worth $247,000. Finally, WS Management Lllp increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. WS Management Lllp now owns 203,073 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $10,771,000 after purchasing an additional 3,073 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.