Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Upgraded by DA Davidson to Strong-Buy Rating

DA Davidson upgraded shares of Knife River (NYSE:KNF) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Stephens set a $80.00 price target on Knife River in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Knife River from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Knife River in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Knife River from $95.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.86.

Knife River Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KNF opened at $66.13 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.42. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $77.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.47. Knife River has a 12 month low of $58.72 and a 12 month high of $96.28.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 8.73%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Knife River will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Knife River

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KNF. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Knife River by 8,210.9% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,491,790 shares of the company’s stock worth $459,388,000 after purchasing an additional 5,425,711 shares during the period. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Knife River in the fourth quarter valued at $71,166,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lifted 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 worth $124,821,000 after buying an additional 648,979 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Knife River in the 4th quarter worth about $32,753,000. Finally, Voss Capital LP boosted its stake in Knife River by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 710,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,952,000 after buying an additional 270,048 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.