Susquehanna Has Lowered Expectations for Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Stock Price

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price objective cut by Susquehanna from $67.00 to $54.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a positive rating on the transportation company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Citigroup raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $53.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.59.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KNX opened at $43.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.65 and a beta of 0.97. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 0.85. Knight-Swift Transportation has a one year low of $42.72 and a one year high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.63%.

Insider Activity at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related news, Director Douglas L. Col bought 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,850. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KNX. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the third quarter worth approximately $70,185,000. Interval Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 320.7% in the fourth quarter. Interval Partners LP now owns 1,754,822 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $93,076,000 after buying an additional 1,337,727 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter worth $65,839,000. Junto Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 4th quarter worth $34,355,000. Finally, Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 59.5% in the 4th quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,435,562 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $76,142,000 after buying an additional 535,518 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

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.