Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Knife River (NYSE:KNF) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Sunday.

KNF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knife River in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Knife River from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Knife River from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of Knife River from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Knife River in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Knife River currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.33.

Knife River Price Performance

KNF opened at $78.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.11, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.02. Knife River has a 12-month low of $58.72 and a 12-month high of $108.83.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $2.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.07. Knife River had a net margin of 4.87% and a return on equity of 9.97%. The business had revenue of $1.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.22 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Knife River

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Knife River by 284.9% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $576,000 after buying an additional 4,730 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Knife River in the 1st quarter valued at $424,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Knife River by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 227,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,529,000 after acquiring an additional 32,762 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in Knife River by 41.1% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 31,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,834,000 after purchasing an additional 9,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Knife River during the 1st quarter worth $5,034,000. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knife River Company 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.