Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Rating Lowered to “Underweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) was downgraded by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $73.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 18.03% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Knife River from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knife River in a research report on Monday, August 24th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Knife River in a research report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. Stephens set a $80.00 target price on Knife River in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Knife River from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $73.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Knife River presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.86.

Knife River Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:KNF opened at $61.85 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.24, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average is $75.05 and its 200 day moving average is $79.96. Knife River has a 12-month low of $58.72 and a 12-month high of $96.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $938.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.89 earnings per share. Knife River’s revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Knife River will post 3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. McMillan Office Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Knife River during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of Knife River in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Knife River by 66.3% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Knife River by 1,088.0% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Knife River during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.