Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Hits New 12-Month High After Strong Earnings

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $61.51 and last traded at $57.29, with a volume of 1188916 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $55.00.

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 net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 1.81%.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 278.27%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KNX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Susquehanna raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and raised their target price for the company from $48.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup cut shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.38.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,703,061.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total value of $28,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,754,625.90. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,729,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.4% in the 3rd 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. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 69,907 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,771,000 after purchasing an additional 16,500 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 681.6% in the 3rd quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 60,000 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,237,000 after buying an additional 52,323 shares in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $55.24 and a 200 day moving average of $53.35. The company has a market capitalization of $9.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 250.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

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.