Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,560,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the December 15th total of 6,140,000 shares. Currently, 4.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,860,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,703,061.01. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,754,625.90. This trade 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 company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KNX. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 87.2% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 747 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.6% during the 3rd 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. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 71.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Raymond James raised their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.56.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 2.6 %

NYSE:KNX traded down $1.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $54.87. 2,867,803 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,425,211. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $8.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 238.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a fifty day moving average of $55.39 and a 200 day moving average of $53.27. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 1.81%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.04 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is presently 278.26%.

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.