Stifel Nicolaus Upgrades Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) to Buy

Key Points

• Stifel Nicolaus has upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a "hold" to a "buy" rating, with a price target of $45.00, indicating a potential upside of approximately 12.88%.
• Several analysts have also raised their price targets, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $52.47 for the stock.
• Knight-Swift Transportation reported earnings of $0.35 per share, exceeding expectations, and showed a year-over-year revenue increase of 0.8% to $1.86 billion.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $45.00 price objective on the transportation company's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' target price indicates a potential upside of 12.88% from the company's previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Thursday. Baird R W upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $42.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $41.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $52.47.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $39.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a PE ratio of 39.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.14. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $36.69 and a twelve month high of $61.51. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $42.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $42.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.01. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 2.22% and a return on equity of 3.03%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. The business's revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Knight-Swift Transportation has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 0.360-0.420 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, EVP Michael K. Liu sold 3,420 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.41, for a total transaction of $148,462.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,935,845 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $649,560,000 after buying an additional 515,212 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,344,372 shares of the transportation company's stock valued at $362,897,000 after acquiring an additional 364,263 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 9.1% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,629,706 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $331,813,000 after purchasing an additional 638,352 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 8.1% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 3,595,397 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $165,712,000 after purchasing an additional 268,761 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,248,258 shares of the transportation company's stock worth $99,440,000 after purchasing an additional 601,108 shares during the period. 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.

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