Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $96.5714.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Knife River to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Knife River from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Knife River from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on Knife River in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Knife River from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KNF. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new stake in Knife River during the 3rd quarter valued at $169,020,000. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Knife River by 0.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,101,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,542,000 after acquiring an additional 12,308 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Knife River by 1.1% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,395,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,960,000 after acquiring an additional 15,464 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Knife River by 2.9% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,272,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,914,000 after acquiring an additional 35,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Knife River by 2.6% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,247,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,880,000 after purchasing an additional 31,560 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Knife River Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of KNF stock opened at $73.08 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $74.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.88. Knife River has a 12-month low of $58.72 and a 12-month high of $106.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market cap of $4.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.47.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.45 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.22 billion. Knife River had a return on equity of 9.97% and a net margin of 4.87%. Equities analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knife River Company Profile

Knife River Corporation, headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota, is a leading integrated construction materials and contracting company in the western United States. The company specializes in producing and supplying aggregates, asphalt mix, ready-mixed concrete and other heavy construction materials used in highway, commercial and residential projects.

In addition to material production, Knife River offers a comprehensive suite of contracting services, including heavy civil construction, road building, underground and open-pit mining and logistics support.