Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 49,006 shares of the transportation company’s stock after buying an additional 3,994 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation were worth $2,644,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 87.2% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 747 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 28.6% during the second quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 900 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 168.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 923 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,145 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KNX has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup cut shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.81.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other news, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.10, for a total value of $28,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,754,625.90. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KNX opened at $55.43 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $8.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 241.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.28. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $45.55 and a fifty-two week high of $60.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 1.81%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 1.05 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 278.26%.

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.