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

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $65.00 to $75.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Knight-Swift Transportation traded as high as $64.10 and last traded at $63.50, with a volume of 3120319 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $61.61.

KNX has been the topic of several other research reports. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $63.00 to $61.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $58.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $49.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.56.

Insider Activity at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other news, COO James L. Fitzsimmons sold 5,917 shares of Knight-Swift Transportation stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.77, for a total transaction of $324,074.09. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 8,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $477,375.32. The trade was a 40.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Michael K. Liu sold 1,243 shares of the 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 77,930 shares of company stock valued at $4,366,536. 3.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knight-Swift Transportation

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 12,918,523 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $675,380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,468,293 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,496,137 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $335,682,000 after buying an additional 76,342 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,397,338 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $439,016,000 after acquiring an additional 129,651 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 4,676,422 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $244,250,000 after acquiring an additional 315,192 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 50.4% during the 4th quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 2,939,212 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $153,662,000 after acquiring an additional 984,422 shares during the period. 88.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Knight-Swift Transportation Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $57.82 and its 200 day moving average is $49.50. The firm has a market cap of $9.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 148.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Knight-Swift Transportation Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s payout ratio is currently 175.61%.

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.