Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Raised to Strong-Buy at Baird R W

Baird R W upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Free Report) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on KNX. Barclays reduced their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $48.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. TD Securities reduced their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $49.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $44.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.25.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of KNX stock traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $47.39. The company had a trading volume of 2,110,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,400,513. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.88. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $36.69 and a twelve month high of $61.51. The company has a market capitalization of $7.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.17. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $43.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.34.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.79% and a net margin of 2.04%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 9th. Knight-Swift Transportation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.60%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 9,383.3% in the 1st quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 569 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 93.4% during the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 642 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 40.0% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,133 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,701 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter worth about $99,000. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.