Knife River (KNF) Competitors

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) and Applied Industrial Technologies (NYSE:AIT) are related companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, media sentiment, profitability and earnings.

Which has preferable valuation & earnings, KNF or AIT?

Applied Industrial Technologies has higher revenue and earnings than Knife River. Applied Industrial Technologies is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Knife River, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Knife River	$2.95B	1.77	$201.68M	$2.69	34.18
Applied Industrial Technologies	$4.56B	2.21	$392.99M	$10.12	26.34

Do insiders and institutionals believe in KNF or AIT?

80.1% of Knife River shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.5% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Knife River shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 1.7% of Applied Industrial Technologies shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts rate KNF or AIT?

Knife River currently has a consensus price target of $114.33, suggesting a potential upside of 24.34%. Applied Industrial Technologies has a consensus price target of $284.29, suggesting a potential upside of 6.64%. Given Knife River's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Knife River is more favorable than Applied Industrial Technologies.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Knife River	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00
Applied Industrial Technologies	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.86

Which has more volatility & risk, KNF or AIT?

Knife River has a beta of 0.63, suggesting that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Applied Industrial Technologies has a beta of 0.94, suggesting that its share price is 6% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media refer more to KNF or AIT?

In the previous week, Applied Industrial Technologies had 5 more articles in the media than Knife River. MarketBeat recorded 19 mentions for Applied Industrial Technologies and 14 mentions for Knife River. Knife River's average media sentiment score of 1.68 beat Applied Industrial Technologies' score of 0.78 indicating that Knife River is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Knife River	14 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Applied Industrial Technologies	10 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is KNF or AIT more profitable?

Applied Industrial Technologies has a net margin of 8.61% compared to Knife River's net margin of 5.20%. Applied Industrial Technologies' return on equity of 21.78% beat Knife River's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Knife River	5.20%	10.58%	4.85%
Applied Industrial Technologies	8.61%	21.78%	12.74%

Summary

Applied Industrial Technologies beats Knife River on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.