Wells Fargo & Company MN Raises Stake in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF)

Wells Fargo & Company MN raised its stake in shares of Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,940 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,975 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned about 0.11% of Knife River worth $6,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Knife River by 830.7% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,101,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,965,000 after buying an additional 983,223 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Knife River by 1,200.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 887,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,224,000 after acquiring an additional 819,439 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of Knife River by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 696,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,766,000 after purchasing an additional 16,698 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Knife River in the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,631,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Knife River by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 520,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,879,000 after purchasing an additional 98,804 shares in the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KNF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Knife River in a research note on Monday, March 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $102.00 price target for the company. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Knife River in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $110.40.

Knife River Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KNF opened at $91.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $5.19 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s fifty day moving average is $92.77 and its 200 day moving average is $97.09. Knife River Co. has a 52 week low of $66.13 and a 52 week high of $108.83.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $657.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $655.80 million. Knife River had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 6.96%. Research analysts anticipate that Knife River Co. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

About Knife River

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.