Wall Street Zen Downgrades Knife River (NYSE:KNF) to Sell

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on KNF. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Knife River from $107.00 to $103.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Knife River from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Knife River from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Knife River from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Knife River in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.86.

Knife River Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE KNF opened at $67.35 on Friday. Knife River has a 52-week low of $58.72 and a 52-week high of $96.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $79.71 and a 200-day moving average of $81.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.42. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $931.39 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 3.2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

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

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.