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

Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $97.1429.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on KNF. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Knife River from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Knife River from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research raised Knife River from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Knife River from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Knife River from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Knife River by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Knife River during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its stake in shares of Knife River by 17.2% during the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,070 shares in the last quarter. Ballast Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Knife River in the first quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Knife River by 1.3% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 23,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,942,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Knife River Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of KNF opened at $77.96 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $81.39. The company has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Knife River has a twelve month low of $58.72 and a twelve month high of $96.28.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($1.40) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.42) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $410.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $387.06 million. Knife River had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 9.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.21) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Knife River will post 3.32 EPS for the current year.

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.