On April 10, 2023 at 12:03:48 ET an unusually large $465.00K block of Put contracts in Knight Transportation (KNX) was bought, with a strike price of $50.00 / share, expiring in 39 days (on May 19, 2023). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 4.40 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 100.00 percentile of all recent large trades made in KNX options.

This trade was first picked up on Fintel’s real time Unusual Option Trades tool, where unusual option trades are highlighted.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 26.04% Upside

As of April 6, 2023, the average one-year price target for Knight Transportation is $68.79. The forecasts range from a low of $48.48 to a high of $92.40. The average price target represents an increase of 26.04% from its latest reported closing price of $54.58.

See our leaderboard of companies with the largest price target upside.

The projected annual revenue for Knight Transportation is $7,268MM, a decrease of 2.16%. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is $4.31.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 1074 funds or institutions reporting positions in Knight Transportation. This is an increase of 37 owner(s) or 3.57% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to KNX is 0.31%, a decrease of 0.81%. Total shares owned by institutions increased in the last three months by 0.80% to 172,739K shares. The put/call ratio of KNX is 7.33, indicating a bearish outlook.

What are Large Shareholders Doing?

Wellington Management Group Llp holds 15,666K shares representing 9.73% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 13,205K shares, representing an increase of 15.71%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in KNX by 19.63% over the last quarter.

Alliancebernstein holds 5,680K shares representing 3.53% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 7,049K shares, representing a decrease of 24.11%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in KNX by 19.77% over the last quarter.

IJH – iShares Core S&P Mid-Cap ETF holds 4,962K shares representing 3.08% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 4,695K shares, representing an increase of 5.39%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in KNX by 1.18% over the last quarter.

VTSMX – Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 4,640K shares representing 2.88% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 4,571K shares, representing an increase of 1.47%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in KNX by 0.39% over the last quarter.

VWNDX – Vanguard Windsor Fund Investor Shares holds 4,151K shares representing 2.58% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 4,232K shares, representing a decrease of 1.94%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in KNX by 12.23% over the last quarter.

Knight Transportation Declares $0.14 Dividend

On February 3, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.14 per share ($0.56 annualized). Shareholders of record as of March 3, 2023 received the payment on March 27, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.12 per share.

At the current share price of $54.58 / share, the stock’s dividend yield is 1.03%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 0.79%, the lowest has been 0.54%, and the highest has been 1.11%. The standard deviation of yields is 0.12 (n=236).

The current dividend yield is 1.97 standard deviations above the historical average.

Additionally, the company’s dividend payout ratio is 0.12. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company’s income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company’s income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend – not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company’s 3-Year dividend growth rate is 0.75%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.

Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

Swift Transportation Inc. is a provider of multiple truckload transportation and logistics services using a nationwide network of business units and terminals in the United States and Mexico to serve customers throughout North America. In addition to operating the country’s largest tractor fleet, Swift also contracts with third-party equipment providers to provide a broad range of truckload services to its customers while creating quality driving jobs for our driving associates and successful business opportunities for independent contractors.

This article originally appeared on Fintel

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