Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) shares gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $88.64, but opened at $84.98. Knife River shares last traded at $84.9490, with a volume of 4,657 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KNF shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Knife River from $106.00 to $109.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knife River in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Knife River from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Knife River from $86.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.29.

Knife River Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.81 billion, a PE ratio of 30.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $83.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 2.54 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. Knife River had a net margin of 4.99% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The firm had revenue of $755.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $726.60 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Knife River Corporation will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Knife River in the fourth quarter worth $407,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Knife River by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 867 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Knife River by 1,088.0% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 594 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 544 shares during the period. Alberta Investment Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Knife River in the fourth quarter worth $1,590,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new position in shares of Knife River in the fourth quarter worth $358,000. 80.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Knife River

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.