Short Interest in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Rises By 6.8%

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. StockNews.com raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Susquehanna upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $48.00 to $67.00 in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.38.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Up 0.6 %

KNX traded up $0.34 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $56.07. The stock had a trading volume of 395,061 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,184,894. Knight-Swift Transportation has a one year low of $45.55 and a one year high of $61.51. The company has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.76 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $55.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.78.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.14%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is currently 87.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total value of $28,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,754,625.90. This represents a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $1,703,061.01. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 87.2% during the third quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 747 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.6% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 34.2% in the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 71.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,201 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 499 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.