Short Interest in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) Grows By 12.1%

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,310,000 shares, a growth of 12.1% from the September 30th total of 5,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,000,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 4.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Shares of KNX traded down $0.97 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $52.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,934,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,062,360. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 226.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The company’s fifty day moving average is $52.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.40. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 52 week low of $45.55 and a 52 week high of $60.99.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 1.81%. The firm had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 1.06 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 278.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KNX. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. 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 report on Thursday, October 24th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, EVP Michael K. Liu sold 5,696 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $304,679.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, EVP Michael K. Liu sold 5,696 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.49, for a total transaction of $304,679.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.33, for a total value of $1,509,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,467,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $73,852,228.80. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 85,196 shares of company stock valued at $4,367,869 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 3,461.9% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 748 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 727 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 87.2% in the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 747 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 900 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 50.7% in the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,020 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 168.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 923 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

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.