Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. $KNX Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Key Points

• Vanguard Group trimmed its stake in Knight‑Swift by 1.1%, selling 161,548 shares and leaving it with 14,649,903 shares (about a 9.02% stake) valued at roughly $765.9 million.
• Company insiders sold a total of 42,930 shares last quarter, including Chairman Kevin P. Knight's sale of 30,000 shares at about $61 each (a 2.25% cut to his holding); insiders now own 2.9% of the stock.
• Knight‑Swift missed quarterly EPS estimates ($0.09 actual vs. $0.29 expected) on roughly in‑line revenue of $1.85 billion, and recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.20 ($0.80 annualized) despite a very high payout ratio (~381%).

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Free Report) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,649,903 shares of the transportation company's stock after selling 161,548 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 9.02% of Knight-Swift Transportation worth $765,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,496,137 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $335,682,000 after acquiring an additional 76,342 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.5% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,267,687 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $326,664,000 after acquiring an additional 124,426 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,676,422 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $244,250,000 after acquiring an additional 315,192 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 252.4% during the third quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 2,262,145 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $89,377,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620,224 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,248,258 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $99,440,000 after acquiring an additional 601,108 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, EVP Michael K. Liu sold 1,243 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $75,661.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 30,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total transaction of $1,830,000.00. Following the transaction, the chairman owned 1,305,347 shares in the company, valued at approximately $79,626,167. The trade was a 2.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,930 shares of company stock valued at $2,581,186. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Down 1.3%

Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $64.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $10.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 305.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.15. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a 1 year low of $38.63 and a 1 year high of $67.75. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $59.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.27.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Knight-Swift Transportation's dividend payout ratio is presently 380.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KNX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $66.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $66.71.

Knight-Swift Transportation Company Profile

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.

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