Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX)

Key Points

• KNX call-option activity surged: Investors bought 20,843 call options, roughly 1,733% above the average daily volume of 1,137, signaling unusually high bullish options interest.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable: Recent price-target increases helped produce a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average target of $84.26, although one research firm downgraded the stock to “Hold.”
• Operating results beat expectations, but insiders sold shares: Knight-Swift reported quarterly EPS of $0.63 versus the $0.51 consensus and revenue of $2.10 billion, while insiders sold about 224,954 shares worth $16.2 million over the past three months.

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 20,843 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 1,733% compared to the average daily volume of 1,137 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KNX shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $79.00 to $94.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen cut Knight-Swift Transportation from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $90.00 target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $84.26.

Insider Activity at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 3,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.82, for a total transaction of $254,952.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $382,782.10. This represents a 39.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Reid Dove sold 126,864 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.13, for a total transaction of $9,277,564.32. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 224,954 shares of company stock worth $16,183,454. Company insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KNX. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,458,088 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $486,995,000 after purchasing an additional 60,750 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $173,669,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,070,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 1,414,368 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $73,943,000 after buying an additional 154,525 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 20.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,385,655 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $72,442,000 after acquiring an additional 231,806 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.77% of the company's stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of KNX traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $68.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,682,755 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,657,123. The stock has a market cap of $11.14 billion, a PE ratio of 263.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.18. The company's fifty day moving average price is $71.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.04. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Knight-Swift Transportation 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.51 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.05 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 3.51% and a net margin of 0.56%.Knight-Swift Transportation's quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.21 EPS. Knight-Swift Transportation has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.710-0.770 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 21st. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. Knight-Swift Transportation's payout ratio is presently 307.69%.

About Knight-Swift Transportation

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc is a transportation and logistics company that provides freight services across North America. Its operations include truckload transportation, less-than-truckload shipping, intermodal services and logistics solutions for commercial and industrial customers.

The company operates a large fleet of tractors and trailers and offers dedicated and irregular-route truckload services, freight brokerage and supply-chain support. Its less-than-truckload business transports smaller shipments through regional and national networks, while its intermodal operations combine rail and highway transportation.

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