JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Stock Price

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $95.00 to $80.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 18.78% from the stock’s current price.

KNF has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Knife River from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Knife River in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Knife River from $107.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Knife River from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Knife River from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.71.

Knife River Stock Up 0.8%

KNF stock opened at $67.35 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $3.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.02. Knife River has a 12 month low of $58.72 and a 12 month high of $96.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced 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 $938.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Knife River will post 3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in Knife River in the second quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new position in shares of Knife River during the second quarter worth about $21,242,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Knife River by 4.9% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Knife River in the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,000. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division grew its stake in Knife River by 17.2% during the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 7,276 shares of the company’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 1,070 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

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.