Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the five research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $103.75.

KNF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital reduced their target price on shares of Knife River from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Knife River from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Knife River from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Knife River by 10.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 421,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,201,000 after purchasing an additional 39,991 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Knife River by 165.4% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 38,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,411,000 after buying an additional 23,779 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Knife River by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 25,487 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,278,000 after buying an additional 5,004 shares during the period. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Knife River by 599.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,750,000 after buying an additional 16,780 shares during the period. Finally, Chesapeake Capital Corp IL acquired a new position in Knife River in the third quarter valued at $567,000. 80.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knife River Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Knife River stock opened at $98.00 on Friday. Knife River has a 1 year low of $61.82 and a 1 year high of $108.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $100.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.77. The company has a market capitalization of $5.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.78.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $2.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.82 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Knife River had a return on equity of 15.22% and a net margin of 6.89%. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knife River Company Profile

Knife River Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides aggregates- led construction materials and contracting services in the United States. It operates through Pacific, Northwest, Mountain, Central, and Energy Services segments. The company mines, processes, and sells construction aggregates, including crushed stone and sand, and gravel; and produces and sells asphalt and ready-mix concrete.