Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Downgraded to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Knife River (NYSE:KNF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

KNF has been the subject of several other reports. Stephens set a $80.00 target price on shares of Knife River in a research note on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings upgraded Knife River from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Knife River from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $73.00 in a report on Wednesday. Zacks Research cut Knife River from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Knife River from $107.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $91.86.

Knife River Price Performance

NYSE:KNF opened at $67.35 on Friday. Knife River has a 1-year low of $58.72 and a 1-year high of $96.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.42.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.13 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $938.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $931.39 million. Knife River had a return on equity of 8.73% and a net margin of 4.23%.The business’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.89 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Knife River will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Knife River

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Paradice Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Knife River during the 4th quarter worth $22,001,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Knife River by 30.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 578,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,664,000 after purchasing an additional 135,982 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Knife River by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 255,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,978,000 after buying an additional 119,452 shares in the last quarter. F m Investments LLC increased its stake in Knife River by 19.2% during the 4th quarter. F m Investments LLC now owns 73,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,179,000 after acquiring an additional 11,839 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its stake in Knife River by 16.4% during the 4th quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 95,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,708,000 after acquiring an additional 13,449 shares during the period. 80.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.