Stephens Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Stock

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) had its price objective increased by equities research analysts at Stephens from $65.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Stephens‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 24.09% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on KNF. Wolfe Research raised Knife River from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered Knife River from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $103.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Knife River from $73.00 to $63.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Citigroup downgraded Knife River to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on Knife River in a research report on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.29.

Knife River Stock Performance

NYSE KNF traded down $0.84 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $56.41. 821,218 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 718,331. The business’s 50 day moving average is $54.99 and its 200-day moving average is $73.54. Knife River has a 1 year low of $47.79 and a 1 year high of $96.28. The company has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a current ratio of 2.66.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The company reported $2.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.58 by ($0.15). The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.30 billion. Knife River had a net margin of 4.23% and a return on equity of 8.73%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Knife River will post 2.40 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Knife River by 83.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 40,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,036,000 after purchasing an additional 18,427 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Knife River by 49.2% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. William Mack & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Knife River during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Knife River by 40.6% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 3,986 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Knife River by 267.1% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares during the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knife River Company Profile

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.