Congress Asset Management Co. Grows Stake in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF)

Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF - Free Report) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 733,832 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 37,587 shares during the period. Congress Asset Management Co. owned approximately 1.30% of Knife River worth $66,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNF. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in Knife River by 830.7% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,101,588 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,965,000 after buying an additional 983,223 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Knife River by 1,200.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 887,680 shares of the company's stock valued at $90,224,000 after buying an additional 819,439 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Knife River during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $66,631,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Knife River by 45.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,936,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $196,829,000 after buying an additional 603,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Knife River during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,750,000. Institutional investors own 80.11% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on KNF shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Knife River from $102.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Stephens reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Knife River in a report on Friday, February 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Knife River currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $112.80.

Knife River Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Knife River stock traded up $0.03 on Friday, reaching $92.26. The company's stock had a trading volume of 295,403 shares, compared to its average volume of 429,553. The company has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.84. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $93.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.32. Knife River Co. has a 52 week low of $66.51 and a 52 week high of $108.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported ($1.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.89) by ($0.32). The firm had revenue of $353.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $343.98 million. Knife River had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 6.96%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.84) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Knife River Co. will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

About Knife River

Knife River Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides aggregates- led construction materials and contracting services in the United States. It operates through Pacific, Northwest, Mountain, Central, and Energy Services segments. The company mines, processes, and sells construction aggregates, including crushed stone and sand, and gravel; and produces and sells asphalt and ready-mix concrete.