Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 284,896 shares of the transportation company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,111,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the third quarter worth approximately $70,185,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,980,109 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $423,265,000 after purchasing an additional 506,491 shares during the period. Nuance Investments LLC boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 74.5% during the third quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 929,083 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,124,000 after purchasing an additional 396,607 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 34.1% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 1,412,869 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $76,224,000 after purchasing an additional 359,566 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation during the fourth quarter worth approximately $16,256,000. Institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KNX has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Susquehanna raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $67.00 in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.41.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $46.36 on Wednesday. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.95 and a 52 week high of $61.51. The firm has a market cap of $7.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.50 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 0.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $52.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.54.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. Equities research analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. This is a positive change from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Douglas L. Col bought 5,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $45.37 per share, with a total value of $226,850.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,850. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 3.00% 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.