Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 15,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,052,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Knife River by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,120,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,720,000 after buying an additional 184,192 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Knife River in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,739,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Knife River in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $6,273,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in Knife River by 48.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 348,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,019,000 after buying an additional 113,575 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Knife River by 421.9% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 124,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,086,000 after buying an additional 100,750 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Knife River Price Performance

Shares of KNF opened at $77.06 on Thursday. Knife River Co. has a 1-year low of $33.67 and a 1-year high of $83.78. The stock has a market cap of $4.36 billion and a PE ratio of -0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 2.63 and a quick ratio of 1.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $76.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.05.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $646.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $566.47 million. Knife River had a net margin of 6.46% and a return on equity of 15.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Knife River Co. will post 3.5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on KNF shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Knife River in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Knife River from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Loop Capital initiated coverage on shares of Knife River in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Knife River in a research report on Friday, January 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Knife River presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.20.

Knife River Company Profile

Knife River Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides aggregates- led construction materials and contracting services in the United States. It operates through Pacific, Northwest, Mountain, Central, and Energy Services segments. The company mines, processes, and sells construction aggregates, including crushed stone and sand, and gravel; and produces and sells asphalt and ready-mix concrete.