Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Shares Down 7.1% – Here’s Why

Shares of Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) traded down 7.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $80.62 and last traded at $80.8960. 300,397 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 651,752 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Knife River from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knife River in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Knife River from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Stephens lifted their price objective on Knife River from $86.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Knife River from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.43.

Knife River Stock Down 7.8%

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.29. The company has a market capitalization of $4.55 billion, a PE ratio of 29.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $755.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $726.60 million. Knife River had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 4.99%.The company’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Knife River Corporation will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Knife River

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Knife River by 141.8% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 341 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Knife River in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in Knife River by 1,088.0% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Knife River during the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Knife River by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.