JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Price Target to $80.00

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) had its price objective cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $95.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Knife River from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research lowered Knife River from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Stephens set a $80.00 price objective on Knife River in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Knife River from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Knife River from $107.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Knife River has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.71.

Knife River Stock Performance

Shares of Knife River stock opened at $67.53 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $80.80. Knife River has a 52 week low of $58.72 and a 52 week high of $96.28.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $938.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.39 million. Knife River had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 4.23%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Knife River will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

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