Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Knife River (NYSE:KNF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Sunday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Knife River from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Knife River from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Knife River from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. UBS Group raised Knife River to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Knife River from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.33.

Knife River Stock Performance

Shares of Knife River stock opened at $79.75 on Friday. Knife River has a 1 year low of $58.72 and a 1 year high of $108.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $72.89 and its 200 day moving average is $76.06. The stock has a market cap of $4.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.56, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.47. 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 released 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 business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. Knife River had a net margin of 4.87% and a return on equity of 9.97%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Knife River

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new position in Knife River in the third quarter worth about $169,020,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Knife River in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,260,000. Voss Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Knife River in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,823,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Knife River by 30.1% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 787,736 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,311,000 after buying an additional 182,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in Knife River by 71.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 354,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,971,000 after buying an additional 147,387 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

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.