Candlestick Capital Management LP Sells 426,983 Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX)

Candlestick Capital Management LP decreased its stake in shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNX) by 67.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 205,938 shares of the transportation company’s stock after selling 426,983 shares during the period. Candlestick Capital Management LP’s holdings in Knight-Swift Transportation were worth $10,923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNX. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 88.7% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 685 shares of the transportation company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 84.3% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 809 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 370 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 20.5% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,254 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,335 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares during the period. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI raised its position in Knight-Swift Transportation by 167.2% in the fourth quarter. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI now owns 1,336 shares of the transportation company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on KNX shares. Bank of America downgraded shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $54.00 to $45.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation from $57.00 to $49.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Knight-Swift Transportation in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Seven research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.60.

Knight-Swift Transportation Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KNX opened at $38.93 on Monday. Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc. has a 52 week low of $36.69 and a 52 week high of $61.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.33 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30.

Knight-Swift Transportation (NYSE:KNX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The transportation company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.03. Knight-Swift Transportation had a net margin of 1.59% and a return on equity of 2.43%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. On average, analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This is a boost from Knight-Swift Transportation’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Knight-Swift Transportation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.60%.

Insider Transactions at Knight-Swift Transportation

In other news, Director Douglas L. Col bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $45.37 per share, for a total transaction of $226,850.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $226,850. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 3.00% of the company’s stock.

Knight-Swift Transportation 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.