Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the six brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $76.20.

Several equities analysts recently commented on KNF shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Knife River from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Knife River in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Bank of America initiated coverage on Knife River in a report on Friday, January 5th. They set a "buy" rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital initiated coverage on Knife River in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. They set a "buy" rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Knife River by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,044,184 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,004,000 after acquiring an additional 503,892 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Knife River by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,398,360 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,546,000 after purchasing an additional 199,389 shares during the period. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC boosted its position in Knife River by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC now owns 1,150,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,138,000 after purchasing an additional 373,359 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in Knife River by 19.7% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 1,120,623 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,720,000 after purchasing an additional 184,192 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Knife River by 122.2% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 819,296 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,221,000 after purchasing an additional 450,574 shares during the period. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Knife River Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE KNF traded up $0.63 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $78.25. The stock had a trading volume of 142,331 shares, compared to its average volume of 286,866. The company has a market capitalization of $4.43 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.15. Knife River has a 1-year low of $33.67 and a 1-year high of $83.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $76.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.42.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $646.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $566.47 million. Knife River had a return on equity of 15.98% and a net margin of 6.46%. Knife River's quarterly revenue was up 20.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Knife River will post 3.5 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.