Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Knife River Corporation $KNF

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) by 49.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 329,460 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 108,948 shares during the quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Knife River were worth $23,178,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KNF. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Knife River by 141.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Knife River by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Knife River by 124.5% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 743 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Knife River by 198.5% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 806 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Knife River by 1,365.6% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knife River Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KNF opened at $73.55 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $83.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $78.81. Knife River Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.72 and a 12 month high of $99.99. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $4.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.55.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($1.40) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.02. Knife River had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 9.35%. The firm had revenue of $410.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.06 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.21) EPS. Knife River’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Knife River Corporation will post 3.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on KNF. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Knife River from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Knife River from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Knife River from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Knife River from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of Knife River from $86.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $98.00.

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.