Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Updates Q1 Earnings Guidance

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) updated its first quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $0.11-0.12 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.39. Knight-Swift Transportation also updated its Q1 2024 guidance to 0.190-0.200 EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $53.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital cut shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a buy rating to a hold rating and cut their price target for the company from $63.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $57.77.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of KNX opened at $47.88 on Friday. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12 month low of $45.73 and a 12 month high of $60.99. The company has a market capitalization of $7.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.00, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $54.83 and a 200 day moving average of $54.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 24th. The transportation company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by ($0.38). Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 3.93% and a net margin of 3.04%. The company had revenue of $1.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.92 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total transaction of $112,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,118 shares in the company, valued at $287,836.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 543.2% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 939 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the second quarter worth about $61,000. Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 21.8% in the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 13,727.3% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,521 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.