Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on KNF. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knife River in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Knife River from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $81.00 to $73.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Knife River in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Knife River from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Knife River in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.86.

Knife River Stock Performance

Shares of KNF stock opened at $61.27 on Tuesday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $74.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $79.82. Knife River has a 52 week low of $58.72 and a 52 week high of $96.28. The company has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.01, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.38.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.36). The company had revenue of $938.57 million for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 3.08 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Knife River by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 392,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,050,000 after purchasing an additional 62,592 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Knife River by 214.2% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 89,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,312,000 after buying an additional 61,053 shares in the last quarter. F m Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Knife River by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. F m Investments LLC now owns 73,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,179,000 after buying an additional 11,839 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its holdings in shares of Knife River by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 95,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,708,000 after buying an additional 13,449 shares during the period. Finally, One Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Knife River by 44.7% during the fourth quarter. One Capital Management LLC now owns 23,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,644,000 after buying an additional 7,214 shares in the last quarter. 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.