Stephens Begins Coverage on Knife River (NYSE:KNF)

Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Knife River (NYSE:KNF) in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Knife River in a research report on Friday, March 8th. They issued a peer perform rating for the company. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Knife River from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.67.

Knife River Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE KNF opened at $68.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.75. Knife River has a 52-week low of $41.53 and a 52-week high of $83.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $71.39. The stock has a market cap of $3.85 billion and a P/E ratio of 21.96.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.84) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.80) by ($0.04). Knife River had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The business had revenue of $329.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $300.98 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($516.50) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Knife River will post 3.52 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Knife River by 0.3% during the first quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 71,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,759,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC boosted its stake in Knife River by 1.2% during the first quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 17,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,418,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Knife River by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Knife River by 0.3% during the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 109,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,904,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its stake in Knife River by 2.2% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 13,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Knife River Company Profile

Knife River Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides aggregates- led construction materials and contracting services in the United States. It operates through Pacific, Northwest, Mountain, Central, and Energy Services segments. The company mines, processes, and sells construction aggregates, including crushed stone and sand, and gravel; and produces and sells asphalt and ready-mix concrete.