Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at DA Davidson

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) was upgraded by analysts at DA Davidson to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Knife River from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Knife River from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Knife River in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Knife River from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knife River in a research note on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.86.

Knife River Stock Performance

KNF opened at $66.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 1.60. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $77.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.47. Knife River has a 1 year low of $58.72 and a 1 year high of $96.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.42.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $938.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.39 million. Knife River had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 4.23%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Knife River by 19.0% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 392,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,050,000 after purchasing an additional 62,592 shares in the last quarter. F m Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Knife River by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. F m Investments LLC now owns 73,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,179,000 after purchasing an additional 11,839 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in shares of Knife River by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 95,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,708,000 after purchasing an additional 13,449 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Knife River by 214.2% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 89,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,312,000 after purchasing an additional 61,053 shares during the last quarter. Finally, One Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Knife River by 44.7% in the fourth quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 23,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 7,214 shares during the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is 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.