Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Knife River has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 10 analysts, with five buys, one strong buy, two holds and two sells. The average 12-month price target is $85.86, well above the $61.35 share price cited.
• The company’s latest quarterly earnings fell short of expectations, reporting $0.77 in EPS versus a $1.13 consensus, although revenue rose 12.6% year over year to $938.57 million.
• Several analysts recently became more cautious, including Zacks Research and JPMorgan, which issued sell or underweight-related changes and reduced price targets. Institutional investors nonetheless hold approximately 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Shares of Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, five have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $85.8571.

Several research analysts have recently commented on KNF shares. Zacks Research lowered Knife River from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Knife River from $107.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Knife River from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Knife River from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Knife River in a research report on Monday, August 24th.

Knife River Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of KNF stock opened at $61.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.38. Knife River has a 52-week low of $58.72 and a 52-week high of $96.28. The business's fifty day moving average is $72.31 and its 200 day moving average is $79.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.36). The business had revenue of $938.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $931.39 million. Knife River had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 4.23%.Knife River's quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 2.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 62,592 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in Knife River by 214.2% in the first 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. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its stake in Knife River by 16.4% in the fourth quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 95,348 shares of the company's stock worth $6,708,000 after buying an additional 13,449 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new position in Knife River during the second quarter valued at approximately $21,242,000. Finally, One Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 7,214 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.11% of the company's stock.

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.

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