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

Key Points

• Analysts give Knife River a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" (6 buys, 3 holds, 1 sell) with a one-year average target of $97.43, and several firms recently raised targets into the $105–$109 range.
• Knife River beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $0.56 vs. $0.41 expected and revenue of $755.06M (up 14.9% YoY), and analysts forecast about $4.11 in EPS for the current fiscal year.
• Shares opened at $83.95 (down 1.8%), trading in a 52‑week range of $58.72–$103.18 with a $4.76B market cap, and institutional investors now own 80.11% of the stock after sizable stake increases by Price T. Rowe and Barrow Hanley.

Shares of Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the ten analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $97.4286.

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on KNF shares. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Knife River from $86.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Knife River from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Knife River from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Knife River from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Knife River from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th.

Knife River Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of KNF opened at $83.95 on Friday. Knife River has a 52-week low of $58.72 and a 52-week high of $103.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm's fifty day moving average is $82.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $75.47. The stock has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.41.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $755.06 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $726.60 million. Knife River had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Knife River will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Knife River by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,915,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $275,431,000 after buying an additional 123,594 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co. purchased a new stake in Knife River in the 3rd quarter valued at about $169,020,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Knife River by 0.6% in the 2nd 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 period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in Knife River by 57.7% in the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 1,774,284 shares of the company's stock valued at $124,821,000 after buying an additional 648,979 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Knife River by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,730,000 after buying an additional 9,125 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.11% of the company's stock.

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.

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