State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Buys 7,366 Shares of Knife River Corporation $KNF

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) by 30.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,625 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,366 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Knife River were worth $2,225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Knife River by 141.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in Knife River during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Knife River by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,000 after buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Knife River by 124.5% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Knife River by 1,365.6% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $113,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Knife River Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE KNF opened at $90.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of 35.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $84.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.66. Knife River Corporation has a 52 week low of $58.72 and a 52 week high of $103.18.

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. The firm had revenue of $410.13 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.06 million. Knife River had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 9.35%. Knife River’s revenue was up 16.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.21) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Knife River Corporation will post 3.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on KNF. B. Riley Financial began coverage on shares of Knife River in a report on Thursday, January 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $92.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Knife River from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Knife River from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens increased their price objective 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, DA Davidson increased their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.00.

Knife River 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.