Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Shares Gap Up - Here's Why

Key Points

• Knife River shares jumped 5%, opening at $53.23 versus a prior close of $51.43 and last trading around $53.78.
• Analyst views are mixed: the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $82.14, with recent ratings ranging from Buy to Strong Sell.
• The company exceeded quarterly revenue expectations with $938.6 million, up 12.6% year over year, but missed on earnings, reporting $0.77 EPS versus the $1.13 consensus estimate.

Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $51.43, but opened at $53.23. Knife River shares last traded at $53.7820, with a volume of 166,967 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Knife River in a research report on Monday, August 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Knife River from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Oppenheimer set a $80.00 price target on Knife River in a report on Thursday. Stephens set a $80.00 price objective on Knife River in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Knife River from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $82.14.

Knife River Trading Up 5.0%

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 stock has a market capitalization of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.38. The business's 50-day moving average is $66.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.61.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $938.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.39 million. Knife River had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 4.23%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Knife River Corporation will post 2.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KNF. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Knife River by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,464,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,579,000 after acquiring an additional 73,028 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Knife River by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,408 shares of the company's stock valued at $99,730,000 after purchasing an additional 9,125 shares during the period. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Knife River in the fourth quarter valued at about $71,166,000. Voss Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Knife River by 61.4% during the fourth quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 710,048 shares of the company's stock worth $49,952,000 after buying an additional 270,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Knife River during the fourth quarter worth about $32,753,000. 80.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knife River Company Profile

Knife River Corporation is a construction materials and contracting company that produces and supplies essential materials for public and private infrastructure projects. Its principal products include construction aggregates, ready-mix concrete and asphalt, along with related paving and contracting services.

The company operates an integrated network of quarries, sand and gravel sites, asphalt and concrete plants, and construction operations. Its services support highways, bridges, airports, commercial developments, residential projects and other infrastructure improvements.

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