Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Shares Down 5.1% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Knife River shares fell 5.1% to about $49.63, with trading volume down sharply from its average.
• Analyst sentiment has weakened, including price-target cuts from Wells Fargo and Oppenheimer and a JPMorgan downgrade to “underweight.” The stock carries a consensus “Hold” rating with an average target price of $70.71.
• The company’s latest quarterly earnings missed expectations, reporting $0.77 in EPS versus the $1.13 consensus, although revenue rose 12.6% year over year to $938.59 million.

Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 5.1% during trading on Friday. The company traded as low as $49.74 and last traded at $49.6280. 76,642 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 694,522 shares. The stock had previously closed at $52.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KNF has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Knife River from $62.00 to $54.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Stephens set a $80.00 price target on shares of Knife River in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Knife River from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Knife River in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Knife River from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $70.71.

Knife River Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The business's fifty day moving average is $60.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.83 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.46.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $938.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $931.39 million. Knife River had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 8.73%. The company's revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Knife River Corporation will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Knife River

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KNF. Congress Asset Management Co. grew its stake in Knife River by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 106,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,367,000 after acquiring an additional 18,728 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Knife River during the second quarter worth about $151,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Knife River by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 24,881 shares of the company's stock worth $2,081,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Knife River by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,976 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,530,000 after buying an additional 1,254 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Knife River by 74.6% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 590 shares of the company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Knife River

Knife River Corporation is a construction materials and contracting company serving public and private infrastructure markets across the western and north-central United States. The company produces and supplies essential construction materials, including crushed stone, sand and gravel, ready-mix concrete, asphalt and related products.

In addition to materials production, Knife River provides construction services such as asphalt paving, concrete construction, site development, excavation and other heavy civil work.

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