Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 5,450,000 shares, an increase of 64.2% from the April 15th total of 3,320,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,200,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 3.5% of the company's shares are short sold.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.24, for a total value of $112,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 5,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $287,836.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 67.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 628 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 136.5% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 667 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 80.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 732 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 61.7% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 742 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on KNX. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $52.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.71.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of KNX stock traded up $1.04 on Friday, hitting $49.85. The stock had a trading volume of 2,503,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,917,949. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's 50 day moving average is $51.65 and its 200-day moving average is $54.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 0.93 and a current ratio of 0.93. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 52-week low of $45.55 and a 52-week high of $60.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The transportation company reported $0.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $1.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.82 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.50% and a return on equity of 2.54%. Knight-Swift Transportation's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.73 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Knight-Swift Transportation's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 95.52%.

Knight-Swift Transportation Company Profile

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.