Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) Hits New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $70.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Knight-Swift Transportation traded as high as $65.27 and last traded at $64.2650, with a volume of 383588 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $61.56.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Evercore upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, March 27th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Stephens reduced their price target on Knight-Swift Transportation from $65.00 to $63.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Knight-Swift Transportation from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $54.00 to $66.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.11.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other news, EVP Michael K. Liu sold 1,243 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.87, for a total transaction of $75,661.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Kevin P. Knight sold 30,000 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.00, for a total value of $1,830,000.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 1,305,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,626,167. This represents a 2.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 42,930 shares of company stock valued at $2,581,186 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KNX. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 134.6% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 671 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 1,478.6% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 884 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 111.3% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares in the last quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 7,100.0% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 936 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 88.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $58.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 0.86 and a current ratio of 0.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 157.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.11.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The transportation company reported $0.31 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Knight-Swift Transportation has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.280-0.320 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. will post 2.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. This is an increase from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 195.12%.

About Knight-Swift Transportation

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.