Evercore ISI Increases Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Price Target to $52.00

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price target lifted by Evercore ISI from $49.00 to $52.00 in a research note published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Evercore ISI currently has an in-line rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on KNX. Citigroup started coverage on Knight-Swift Transportation in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $58.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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, StockNews.com raised Knight-Swift Transportation to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.94.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KNX opened at $52.55 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.35. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $45.55 and a twelve month high of $60.99.

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

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 156.10%.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 45,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,422,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,294,210.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,467,360 shares in the company, valued at $73,852,228.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.53, for a total value of $2,318,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,422,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $73,294,210.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 85,196 shares of company stock worth $4,367,869. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 3,461.9% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 748 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 727 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 28.6% in the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 168.3% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 923 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,020 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 302 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, 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.