Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Trading Down 9.1% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Knife River shares fell 9.1% to approximately $50.76, with trading volume 34% above average.
• Recent analyst sentiment weakened, including downgrades from Zacks Research, Citigroup and Wall Street Zen; the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating and an $84.29 average price target.
• The company’s latest quarterly results missed earnings expectations, reporting $0.77 in EPS versus the $1.13 consensus, although revenue rose 12.6% year over year to $938.59 million.

Shares of Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) traded down 9.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $50.92 and last traded at $50.76. Approximately 888,600 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 34% from the average session volume of 661,214 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KNF. Zacks Research downgraded Knife River from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Knife River in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Citigroup lowered Knife River to a "cautious" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Wall Street Zen cut Knife River from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Knife River from $107.00 to $103.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $84.29.

Knife River Trading Down 7.9%

The company's fifty day moving average price is $67.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.84. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.38.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). Knife River had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 4.23%.The business had revenue of $938.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.39 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.89 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Knife River Corporation will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Knife River

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 73,028 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Knife River by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,408 shares of the company's stock worth $99,730,000 after purchasing an additional 9,125 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Knife River during the fourth quarter worth about $71,166,000. Voss Capital LP raised its position in Knife River by 61.4% in the 4th quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 710,048 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,952,000 after buying an additional 270,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Knife River in the fourth quarter worth $32,753,000. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Knife River

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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