Amundi Decreases Holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Amundi cut its holdings in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) by 38.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 235,880 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 146,855 shares during the quarter. Amundi’s holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation were worth $12,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KNX. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation during the 3rd quarter valued at $70,185,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,980,109 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $423,265,000 after acquiring an additional 506,491 shares during the last quarter. Nuance Investments LLC increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 74.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nuance Investments LLC now owns 929,083 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,124,000 after acquiring an additional 396,607 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 34.1% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 359,566 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation in the 4th quarter worth about $16,256,000. 88.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KNX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Susquehanna raised Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $48.00 to $67.00 in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $61.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Benchmark started coverage on Knight-Swift Transportation in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $63.00 target price for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Knight-Swift Transportation presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Douglas L. Col bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,850. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of KNX opened at $46.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a PE ratio of 63.77 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $53.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.59. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.95 and a 12-month high of $61.51.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The transportation company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a return on equity of 2.43% and a net margin of 1.59%. As a group, equities 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.55%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is presently 98.63%.

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.