Knight-Swift Transportation Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:KNX)

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) saw some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 10,012 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 418% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,933 call options.

Knight-Swift Transportation Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE KNX opened at $42.43 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $42.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.55. Knight-Swift Transportation 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 quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.12 and a beta of 1.18.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. The business’s revenue was up 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Knight-Swift Transportation will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 9th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is 76.60%.

Insider Activity at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other Knight-Swift Transportation news, Director Douglas L. Col purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,850. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 3.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in Knight-Swift Transportation in the third quarter worth about $70,185,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 653,238 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $35,242,000 after purchasing an additional 115,447 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Knight-Swift Transportation in the fourth quarter worth approximately $221,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC lifted its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 14,831 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $787,000 after buying an additional 3,555 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KNX has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $63.00 to $46.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Knight-Swift Transportation from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut Knight-Swift Transportation from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.