Wall Street Zen Upgrades Knife River (NYSE:KNF) to Hold

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

KNF has been the topic of several other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Knife River from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. UBS Group raised Knife River to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knife River in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Knife River from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Knife River from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.33.

Knife River Price Performance

Knife River stock opened at $72.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.47. Knife River has a 12-month low of $58.72 and a 12-month high of $108.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $71.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.22.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC raised its stake in shares of Knife River by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 6,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Unified Investment Management increased its holdings in Knife River by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Unified Investment Management now owns 5,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Knife River by 5.8% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Knife River by 1.3% in the second quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,085,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Knife River by 3.9% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,497 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.