Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Stock

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Bank of America from $61.00 to $63.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 12.32% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Raymond James boosted their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.56.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Knight-Swift Transportation stock traded up $0.27 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $56.09. 466,828 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,617,171. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $53.15. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $45.55 and a twelve month high of $60.99. The firm has a market cap of $9.08 billion, a PE ratio of 243.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.32 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 1.81% and a net margin of 0.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ploeg David Vander sold 500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,754,625.90. The trade was a 1.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 29,779 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was 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. Corporate insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KNX. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 87.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 747 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 28.6% in the 2nd 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 36.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,127 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.