Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Knife River Corporation $KNF

Key Points

• Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Knife River by 184.3% in Q4, adding 23,764 shares to hold 36,659 shares (about $2.59M), and institutional investors now own roughly 80.11% of the company.
• Knife River posted a Q4 earnings beat—$0.56 EPS vs. $0.41 consensus—and revenue of $755.1M, up 14.9% year-over-year, with analysts projecting about 4.11 EPS for the fiscal year.
• Analysts collectively rate the stock a Moderate Buy with a consensus price target of $97.43, following several upgrades and raised targets from firms like DA Davidson and JPMorgan.

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC raised its position in Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF - Free Report) by 184.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,659 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 23,764 shares during the quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Knife River worth $2,586,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNF. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Knife River by 141.8% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 341 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Knife River in the third quarter worth approximately $47,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Knife River by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 685 shares of the company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Knife River by 124.5% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 743 shares of the company's stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Knife River by 1,365.6% in the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the company's stock worth $113,000 after acquiring an additional 1,270 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.11% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KNF has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Knife River from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Knife River in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. B. Riley Financial initiated coverage on shares of Knife River in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $92.00 price target for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Knife River from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Knife River from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.43.

Knife River Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE:KNF opened at $75.22 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.26 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.54, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Knife River Corporation has a twelve month low of $58.72 and a twelve month high of $103.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.29.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $755.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $726.60 million. Knife River had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The company's revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Knife River Corporation will post 4.11 EPS 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.

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