Citi ups Knight-Swift target, adds ‘upside 90-day catalyst watch’

Citi raised the firm’s price target on Knight-Swift (KNX) to $53 from $48 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares. The firm also added an “upside 90-day catalyst watch” on Knight-Swift. Trucking has been “mired” in a nearly three-year long freight recession given overcapacity and weak demand, but conditions have “possibly started to change in recent weeks,” the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm says this shift has largely gone unnoticed, partly because many investors have been broadly turned off to the transports sector given persistent underperformance versus the S&P 500. Citi believes the Trump Administration’s recent effort to step-up enforcement of the English Language Proficiency mandate for truck drivers could catalyze a shift in supply/demand dynamics. The firm believes Knight-Swift is best positioned to capitalize on an inflection in rates.