Benchmark Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Stock

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at Benchmark from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the transportation company’s stock. Benchmark’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 14.14% from the stock’s previous close.

KNX has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $50.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $43.00 to $53.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $59.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $51.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock opened at $56.95 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $51.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $46.41. Knight-Swift Transportation has a 1-year low of $36.69 and a 1-year high of $59.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The company has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 138.91, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.16.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The transportation company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by ($0.05). Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 0.88% and a return on equity of 2.88%. The business had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Knight-Swift Transportation has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.280-0.320 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Cary M. Flanagan sold 4,300 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.04, for a total transaction of $193,672.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 5,644 shares in the company, valued at $254,205.76. This trade represents a 43.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.01, for a total transaction of $1,785,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 1,405,347 shares in the company, valued at $71,686,750.47. This represents a 2.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 43,992 shares of company stock worth $2,220,707 over the last three months. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 54.2% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its stake in Knight-Swift Transportation by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 444,318 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $23,229,000 after acquiring an additional 28,945 shares in the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 67,959 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $3,553,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224 shares during the last quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 741,139 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $38,747,000 after acquiring an additional 39,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 4th quarter worth $447,000. Institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Knight-Swift Transportation

Here are the key news stories impacting Knight-Swift Transportation this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade/price‑target raise — Benchmark raised its price target to $65 and kept a “buy” rating, signaling upside potential if KNX’s rate leverage and cost initiatives materialize. Benchmark raises PT to $65
• Positive Sentiment: Susquehanna raised its target to $60 (still a neutral rating) — another signal that some sell‑side firms see upside as freight market tightness could return. Susquehanna raises PT to $60
• Positive Sentiment: Management commentary: Knight‑Swift says it’s “feeling a bit better about our ability to push rates” into 2026 — this suggests pricing power could improve, supporting margin recovery if demand stabilizes. Knight‑Swift ‘feeling a bit better about our ability to push rates’ in ‘26
• Neutral Sentiment: Mixed analyst moves — UBS raised its target to $54 but keeps a “neutral” rating (target still below current price), and Stifel trimmed its target modestly while keeping a buy stance. These adjustments show differing views on near‑term demand vs. longer‑term earnings power. Analyst coverage updates
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings‑call tone: company highlighted cost wins and initiatives but offered a cautious outlook for market timing — this is constructive for margins but keeps short‑term visibility limited. Q4 2025 earnings call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results missed estimates — KNX reported $0.31 EPS vs. consensus ~$0.36 and revenue below expectations; margin pressure from rising costs and softer demand dented results. Q4 earnings miss
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 2026 EPS guidance set to $0.28–$0.32, roughly in line with or slightly below consensus — the guidance and near‑term uncertainty in volume/claims contributed to the sell‑off. Q1 guidance & sales miss

Knight-Swift Transportation Company Profile

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc (NYSE: KNX) is one of North America’s largest asset-based truckload carriers, offering a wide range of transportation and logistics services. The company was formed in 2017 through the merger of Knight Transportation and Swift Transportation, each with decades of experience in long-haul dry van and refrigerated freight. Since the merger, Knight-Swift has pursued a growth strategy that includes fleet expansions, targeted acquisitions, and investments in technology to enhance service reliability and network efficiency.

The company’s core business activities include full truckload operations for dry van, temperature-controlled and flatbed shipments.