Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $34.30 Million Stake in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. $KNX

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group boosted its Knight-Swift Transportation stake by 38.9% in the first quarter, ending with 595,649 shares valued at about $34.3 million.
• Other institutions also increased exposure to KNX, and institutional investors now hold 88.77% of the company’s stock, highlighting strong professional ownership interest.
• Analysts remain generally upbeat: several firms raised price targets and ratings, giving Knight-Swift a consensus Buy rating with an average price target of $80.44, even after the company reported quarterly EPS that missed estimates.

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Free Report) by 38.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 595,649 shares of the transportation company's stock after acquiring an additional 166,668 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.37% of Knight-Swift Transportation worth $34,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 23.6% in 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. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 513.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,416,865 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $126,354,000 after buying an additional 2,022,996 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 4th quarter worth about $92,070,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 269.7% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,231,439 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $88,164,000 after buying an additional 1,627,791 shares during the period. Finally, Pzena Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 4th quarter worth about $66,151,000. Institutional investors own 88.77% of the company's stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $76.61 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 364.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.18. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a twelve month low of $38.63 and a twelve month high of $82.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.20.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, June 8th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 8th. Knight-Swift Transportation's payout ratio is 380.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on KNX. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Benchmark upped their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Stephens upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Citigroup raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $80.44.

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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