Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Grows Stock Holdings in Knife River Corporation $KNF

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) by 20.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 98,239 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,924 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Knife River were worth $6,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of KNF. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Knife River by 284.9% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after purchasing an additional 4,730 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Knife River during the 1st quarter valued at about $424,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Knife River by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 227,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,529,000 after purchasing an additional 32,762 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Knife River by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,101,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $171,542,000 after purchasing an additional 12,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Knife River by 71.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 354,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,971,000 after purchasing an additional 147,387 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KNF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Knife River from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Knife River from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Knife River from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Knife River from $86.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Knife River from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.00.

Knife River Trading Up 3.6%

NYSE:KNF opened at $73.38 on Thursday. Knife River Corporation has a one year low of $58.72 and a one year high of $99.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.55.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($1.40) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.02. Knife River had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 9.35%. The business had revenue of $410.13 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.21) earnings per share. Knife River’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Knife River Corporation will post 3.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knife River Company Profile

Knife River Corporation, headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota, is a leading integrated construction materials and contracting company in the western United States. The company specializes in producing and supplying aggregates, asphalt mix, ready-mixed concrete and other heavy construction materials used in highway, commercial and residential projects.

In addition to material production, Knife River offers a comprehensive suite of contracting services, including heavy civil construction, road building, underground and open-pit mining and logistics support.