Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $96.28 and last traded at $95.0980, with a volume of 82378 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KNF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Knife River from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Knife River in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Knife River from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Knife River from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.29.

Knife River Trading Up 2.4%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $80.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market cap of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.40.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($1.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.02. The business had revenue of $410.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $387.06 million. Knife River had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 4.58%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.21) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Knife River Corporation will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Knife River

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNF. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Knife River by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,915,131 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,431,000 after buying an additional 123,594 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Knife River by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,101,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,542,000 after purchasing an additional 12,308 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in Knife River by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,774,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,821,000 after purchasing an additional 648,979 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Knife River by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,464,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,579,000 after purchasing an additional 73,028 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Knife River by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,730,000 after purchasing an additional 9,125 shares in the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.