Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) shares gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $51.43, but opened at $53.23. Knife River shares last traded at $53.7820, with a volume of 166,967 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KNF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Knife River from $73.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Stephens set a $80.00 price target on Knife River in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Knife River from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 1st. Oppenheimer set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Knife River in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Knife River to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $82.14.

Knife River Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.66. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $66.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.61. The firm has a market cap of $3.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.38.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 EPS 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 company had revenue of $938.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Knife River Corporation will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Knife River by 5.2% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,464,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,579,000 after acquiring an additional 73,028 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Knife River by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,417,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $99,730,000 after purchasing an additional 9,125 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in Knife River during the fourth quarter worth $71,166,000. Voss Capital LP grew its holdings in Knife River by 61.4% in the fourth quarter. Voss Capital LP now owns 710,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,952,000 after purchasing an additional 270,048 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Knife River in the fourth quarter valued at $32,753,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

About Knife River

Knife River Corporation is a construction materials and contracting company that produces and supplies essential materials for public and private infrastructure projects. Its principal products include construction aggregates, ready-mix concrete and asphalt, along with related paving and contracting services.

The company operates an integrated network of quarries, sand and gravel sites, asphalt and concrete plants, and construction operations. Its services support highways, bridges, airports, commercial developments, residential projects and other infrastructure improvements.