Raymond James Financial Inc. Invests $15.11 Million in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

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

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 88.7% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 685 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position 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 buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI lifted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 167.2% in the 4th quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 1,336 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In related news, Director Douglas L. Col purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares in the company, valued at $226,850. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Down 2.0 %

Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $38.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.89 and a beta of 1.16. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.69 and a fifty-two week high of $61.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.64.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This is a boost from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is presently 98.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on KNX shares. Bank of America cut Knight-Swift Transportation from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $66.00 to $55.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $67.00 to $54.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Knight-Swift Transportation presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.93.

Knight-Swift Transportation 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.