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

Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the ten brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $97.1429.

KNF has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Knife River from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Knife River from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Knife River from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Knife River from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Knife River in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock.

Knife River Trading Down 3.7%

KNF opened at $78.71 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $4.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.25. Knife River has a fifty-two week low of $58.72 and a fifty-two week high of $96.28.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($1.40) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.02. Knife River had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 4.58%.The business had revenue of $410.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.06 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.21) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 3.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Knife River

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new stake in Knife River in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Knife River by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Knife River by 1,088.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Knife River in the second quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Knife River by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

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.