Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $1.34 Million Position in Knife River Corporation $KNF

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 16,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,339,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Knife River by 284.9% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 4,730 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Knife River in the first quarter valued at approximately $424,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Knife River by 16.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 227,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,529,000 after purchasing an additional 32,762 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Knife River by 0.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,101,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,542,000 after buying an additional 12,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Knife River by 71.0% during the second quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 354,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,971,000 after buying an additional 147,387 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KNF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings raised Knife River from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Knife River from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Knife River from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Knife River in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Knife River from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Knife River presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.00.

Knife River Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KNF opened at $84.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.00, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Knife River Corporation has a 12 month low of $58.72 and a 12 month high of $96.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $82.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.62.

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

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.