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Here's Why Knight-Swift (KNX) Stock Should Grace Your Portfolio

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Shares of Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings (KNX - Free Report) have been displaying an uptrend despite the prevalent pandemic-triggered distress. The stock has rallied 19.9% in the past year.

 

Let’s look into the factors that are working in favor of the stock.

Northbound Earnings Estimates: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-quarter earnings has been revised 20% upward over the past 60 days. For 2021, the consensus mark for the metric has moved 19.8% north in the same time frame. Such favorable estimate revisions reflect brokers’ confidence in the stock.

Given the wealth of information at the brokers’ disposal, it is in the best interest of investors to be guided by their expert advice and the direction of their estimate revisions. This is because the same serves as a key indicator in determining the price of a stock.

Impressive Zacks Rank & VGM Score: The stock has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), currently, and a VGM Score of A, which further highlights its attractiveness. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Solid Industry Rank: The industry to which Knight-Swift belongs, currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 44 (of 250 plus groups). Such a solid rank places the company in the top 17% of the Zacks industries. Studies show that 50% of a stock price movement is directly related to the performance of the industry group it hails from.

In fact, an ordinary stock within a strong group is likely to outshine a robust stock in a weak industry. Therefore, taking the industry’s performance into account becomes imperative.

Other Tailwinds: We are impressed by Knight-Swift's efforts to reward its shareholders through dividends and share buybacks. To this end, the company's board recently approved a new share buyback program, authorizing the repurchase of shares worth up to $250 million.   Following  adoption of the new plan, the company ended the $250 million repurchase buyback program approved last May 

The company's efforts to control costs are encouraging too. Evidently, its adjusted operating ratio (operating expenses as a % of revenues) improved to 86.6% in the first nine months of 2020 from 88.6% in the same period of 2019 on lower costs. Improving freight conditions also bode well for the stock. The company expects this strong freight scenario to continue.

Other Stocks to Consider

Investors interested in the broader Transportation sector may also consider some other top-ranked stocks like Herc Holdings (HRI - Free Report) , ArcBest Corporation (ARCB - Free Report) and Danaos Corporation (DAC - Free Report) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1, currently.

Shares of Herc Holdings, ArcBest and Danaos have gained more than 2%, 12% and 39% in the past month, respectively.

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