Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $73.36 and last traded at $72.95, with a volume of 3065034 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $70.12.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 4th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.71.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $11.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 347.40 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $61.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $56.73.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.20). Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.94% and a net margin of 0.45%.The business had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. Knight-Swift Transportation’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 8th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 8th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 380.95%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Joshua Smith sold 5,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.91, for a total value of $351,450.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 9,214 shares in the company, valued at $561,224.74. This trade represents a 38.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KNX. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 23.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 5,948 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the first quarter worth about $451,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 6.9% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,724 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 882 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 57.7% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,087,719 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $48,110,000 after purchasing an additional 398,116 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 54.3% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 491,702 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $21,748,000 after purchasing an additional 172,956 shares during the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Knight-Swift Transportation

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc (NYSE: KNX) is one of North America’s largest asset-based truckload carriers, offering a wide range of transportation and logistics services. The company was formed in 2017 through the merger of Knight Transportation and Swift Transportation, each with decades of experience in long-haul dry van and refrigerated freight. Since the merger, Knight-Swift has pursued a growth strategy that includes fleet expansions, targeted acquisitions, and investments in technology to enhance service reliability and network efficiency.

The company’s core business activities include full truckload operations for dry van, temperature-controlled and flatbed shipments.