Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also commented on KNF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of Knife River in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knife River in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Knife River from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Knife River from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Knife River to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.71.

Knife River Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of NYSE KNF opened at $80.00 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $74.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.50. The company has a market capitalization of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.47. Knife River has a 1 year low of $58.72 and a 1 year high of $105.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. Knife River had a return on equity of 9.97% and a net margin of 4.87%. On average, analysts forecast that Knife River will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Knife River

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

About Knife River

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.