Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Cut to Hold at Stifel Nicolaus

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) was downgraded by equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $47.00 price target on the transportation company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $53.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price suggests a potential downside of 0.30% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Stephens decreased their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $60.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 18th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.71.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KNX opened at $47.14 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $53.72 and a 200 day moving average of $54.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market capitalization of $7.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.99. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 52 week low of $45.73 and a 52 week high of $60.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.07). Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.53% and a net margin of 1.50%. The company had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.73 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total transaction of $112,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 5,118 shares in the company, valued at $287,836.32. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,063 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 352 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 23,325 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,170,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 200.8% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 28,538 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,431,000 after acquiring an additional 19,052 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 61,295 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,912 shares during the period. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 12.2% during the 3rd quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,279 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 1,445 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.