The Goldman Sachs Group Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Stock

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price objective boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $45.00 to $51.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the transportation company’s stock.

KNX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Citigroup downgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America upped their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.81.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

KNX opened at $55.43 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 241.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.96. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 12-month low of $45.55 and a 12-month high of $60.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 1.81%. The business had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Knight-Swift Transportation’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 278.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.19, for a total transaction of $1,703,061.01. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total transaction of $28,550.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 30,729 shares in the company, valued at $1,754,625.90. This trade represents a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Trust bought a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the third quarter worth $204,000. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation in the third quarter worth about $70,185,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the 3rd quarter worth about $378,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 81,400 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $4,392,000 after purchasing an additional 4,551 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 20,384 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $1,100,000 after purchasing an additional 4,913 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

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.