UPDATE: Bank of America Upgrades Knight Transportation to Buy

Bank of America has published a research report on Knight Transportation

and has upgraded the company from Neutral to Buy believing that growth is returning for the company. In the report, Bank of America writes, "Knight posted in-line 4Q11 results, literally on-top of our revenue, expense, operating income, and EPS targets for the second consecutive quarter and set 1Q12 and 2Q12 targets, which are relatively in line with our targets and consensus. What's changed in our view is that the company is re-introducing fleet growth to its plans, which it had stalled through the downturn (a move that contracted its P/E multiple from the upper 20's to upper-teens). It noted that based on an improving economy and where rates are currently (up 3%-4%), it can justify returning to 4%-7% fleet growth." Bank of America has also raised the price objective from $18 to $20 on Knight Transportation, which is currently trading up $1.20 from yesterday's $16.61 closing price.