Dahlman Rose Maintains Buy, $18 Target on Knight Transportation

Dahlman Rose reiterates its Buy rating and $18 target price on Knight Transportation

on modest top-to-bottom beat on earnings expectations. Dahlman Rose notes, "Knight reported 4Q11 EPS of $0.22, slightly above our and the consensus estimate of $0.21. This result represented a 16% y/y increase (14% when adjusting for 4Q10 non-cash charges). Revenue grew 19% to $224.1 MM, beating our and consensus estimates of $215.8 MM and $222.4 MM, respectively. Excluding fuel surcharges, revenue was up 14.6%. The operating income jumped 24% to $29.2 MM, ahead of our and consensus estimates of $27.8 MM and $27.1 MM, respectively." KNX closed at $16.61 a share yesterday.