Traders Buy High Volume of Knight-Swift Transportation Call Options (NYSE:KNX)

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 10,012 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 418% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,933 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Douglas L. Col bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $226,850. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Knight-Swift Transportation

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 4th quarter valued at $3,021,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,175,335 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $62,340,000 after purchasing an additional 28,387 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 21.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,242,000 after buying an additional 115,447 shares in the last quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 199.2% in the fourth quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 29,625 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 19,725 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 4th quarter valued at about $749,000. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 1.7 %

KNX opened at $42.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.12 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $42.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.55. Knight-Swift Transportation has a twelve month low of $36.69 and a twelve month high of $61.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 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, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on KNX. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $44.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $54.00 to $45.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $63.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.60.

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.