Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wolfe Research

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wolfe Research from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on KNF. B. Riley Financial decreased their target price on shares of Knife River from $105.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Knife River from $73.00 to $63.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Zacks Research upgraded Knife River from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, October 9th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Knife River in a report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Knife River from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.29.

Knife River Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of KNF opened at $52.88 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $56.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.46. Knife River has a 12-month low of $47.79 and a 12-month high of $96.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $938.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Knife River will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knife River

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of Knife River during the second quarter worth $39,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in Knife River by 267.1% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 826 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Knife River by 74.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Knife River in the second quarter worth approximately $50,000. Finally, Ballast Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Knife River during the first quarter valued at $97,000. 80.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Knife River

Knife River Corporation is a construction materials and contracting company headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota. The company produces and sells construction aggregates, asphalt, ready-mix concrete and cement, and also provides related construction services for transportation, commercial, residential and industrial projects.

Its operations include aggregate mining and processing, asphalt and concrete production, paving, site development and other heavy-construction activities. Knife River serves public-sector and private-sector customers, including state and local governments, contractors, commercial developers and industrial businesses.

Knife River became an independent publicly traded company in 2023 after being spun off from MDU Resources Group.