Knight-Swift price target lowered to $66 from $71 at Stifel

Stifel analyst Bert Subin lowered the firm’s price target on Knight-Swift (KNX) to $66 from $71 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares after the company announced it agreed to acquire U.S. Xpress Enterprises (USX) for $6.15 per share or an enterprise value of $1.1B with op-leases. The deal "surprised us," said Stifel, which views the deal as "high-risk/high-reward," arguing that U.S. Xpress’ high leverage levels and recent operating losses will "likely pave a bumpy, but potentially fruitful, path to shareholder value creation." While the deal in the end could be "a homerun," the firm is somewhat cautious and thinks the addition of U.S. Xpress "detracts somewhat" from ‘s diversification pivot in recent years, the analyst added.