Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday. The stock had previously closed at $57.73, but opened at $61.01. Knife River shares last traded at $58.5970, with a volume of 277,197 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KNF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research raised Knife River from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Knife River from $62.00 to $54.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Stephens lifted their price target on shares of Knife River from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded Knife River from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Knife River to a “cautious” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Knife River presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $68.00.

Knife River Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.60, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.13, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $55.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.78.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $2.43 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.15). Knife River had a return on equity of 8.22% and a net margin of 3.98%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Knife River Corporation will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Knife River by 49.2% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. William Mack & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Knife River during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in shares of Knife River during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of Knife River by 267.1% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 826 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Knife River by 74.6% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 590 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Knife River

Knife River Corporation is a construction materials and contracting company headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota. The company produces and sells construction aggregates, asphalt, ready-mix concrete and cement, and also provides related construction services for transportation, commercial, residential and industrial projects.

Its operations include aggregate mining and processing, asphalt and concrete production, paving, site development and other heavy-construction activities. Knife River serves public-sector and private-sector customers, including state and local governments, contractors, commercial developers and industrial businesses.

Knife River became an independent publicly traded company in 2023 after being spun off from MDU Resources Group.