DA Davidson Upgrades Knife River (NYSE:KNF) to “Strong-Buy”

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Knife River in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research downgraded Knife River from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Knife River from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Knife River from $107.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Stephens set a $80.00 price target on Knife River in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.86.

Knife River Price Performance

NYSE KNF opened at $66.13 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Knife River has a 12 month low of $58.72 and a 12 month high of $96.28. The stock has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50 day moving average is $77.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.47.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KNF. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Knife River by 8,210.9% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,491,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,388,000 after buying an additional 5,425,711 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Knife River during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $71,166,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its stake 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 worth $124,821,000 after acquiring an additional 648,979 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Knife River during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,753,000. Finally, Voss Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Knife River by 61.4% during the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 710,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,952,000 after acquiring an additional 270,048 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

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.