Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Hits New 52-Week Low Following Analyst Downgrade

Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $73.00 to $63.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Knife River traded as low as $48.80 and last traded at $49.13, with a volume of 27,258 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $49.44.

Several other analysts have also commented on KNF. Zacks Research raised shares of Knife River from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knife River in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Knife River from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. B. Riley Financial cut their target price on Knife River from $105.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Knife River to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.29.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knife River

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in Knife River by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Knife River by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 2,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Knife River by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Knife River by 74.6% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in Knife River by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 11,604 shares of the company’s stock valued at $947,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knife River Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.66. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $58.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.35.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $938.59 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.39 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Knife River Corporation will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knife River Company Profile

Knife River Corporation is a construction materials and contracting company serving public and private infrastructure markets across the western and north-central United States. The company produces and supplies essential construction materials, including crushed stone, sand and gravel, ready-mix concrete, asphalt and related products.

In addition to materials production, Knife River provides construction services such as asphalt paving, concrete construction, site development, excavation and other heavy civil work.