Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Knife River (NYSE:KNF) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $73.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $81.00.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on KNF. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Knife River from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Knife River from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Knife River in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Knife River from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Knife River from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $91.86.

Knife River Trading Down 0.2%

KNF opened at $67.35 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $79.71 and its 200-day moving average is $81.03. Knife River has a 52-week low of $58.72 and a 52-week high of $96.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.42.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by ($0.36). Knife River had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 8.73%. The firm had revenue of $938.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $931.39 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.89 earnings per share. Knife River’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Knife River will post 3.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knife River

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KNF. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Knife River by 284.9% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 6,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $576,000 after purchasing an additional 4,730 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Knife River during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $424,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Knife River by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 227,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,529,000 after purchasing an additional 32,762 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in Knife River by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,101,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $171,542,000 after buying an additional 12,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its stake in Knife River by 71.0% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 354,860 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,971,000 after buying an additional 147,387 shares during the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.