Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. $KNX

Key Points

• Louisiana State Employees Retirement System opened a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the first quarter, buying 47,100 shares valued at about $2.7 million.
• Institutional ownership in KNX remains very high, with several large investors increasing their stakes and 88.77% of the stock held by institutions overall.
• Despite a recent earnings miss on EPS, Knight-Swift posted revenue in line with expectations, and analysts still view the stock favorably with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $73.53.

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 47,100 shares of the transportation company's stock, valued at approximately $2,712,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of KNX. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,918,523 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $675,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,468,293 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,496,137 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $335,682,000 after purchasing an additional 76,342 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,397,338 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $439,016,000 after buying an additional 129,651 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 315,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 50.4% during the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 2,939,212 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $153,662,000 after buying an additional 984,422 shares in the last quarter. 88.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

KNX stock opened at $76.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 0.70 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $12.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 365.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.83. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $38.63 and a 52 week high of $82.86.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last released 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). The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 2.94%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 8th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Knight-Swift Transportation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 380.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KNX. Evercore raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.53.

Knight-Swift Transportation 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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