Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Downgraded by Zacks Research to “Strong Sell”

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Knife River (NYSE:KNF) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Monday,Zacks reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on KNF. Stephens increased their price objective on shares of Knife River from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Knife River from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, November 2nd. B. Riley Financial cut their target price on Knife River from $105.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup cut Knife River to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Knife River has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.29.

Knife River Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE KNF opened at $58.29 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $54.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.35. Knife River has a 12 month low of $47.79 and a 12 month high of $96.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 1.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.70, a PEG ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.39.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.30 billion. Knife River had a net margin of 3.98% and a return on equity of 8.22%. Knife River’s revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 2.40 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Knife River

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Knife River by 5.2% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,464,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,579,000 after purchasing an additional 73,028 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Knife River by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 392,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,050,000 after buying an additional 62,592 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new stake in Knife River during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $21,242,000. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its holdings in Knife River by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 123,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,086,000 after buying an additional 9,990 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in Knife River by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 112,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,153,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Knife River

Knife River Corporation is an aggregates-based construction materials and contracting company headquartered in Bismarck, North Dakota. It produces and sells construction materials, including crushed stone, sand and gravel, ready-mix concrete, asphalt and cement. The company also provides construction services such as asphalt paving, road building, site development and underground utility work. Its operations serve customers across parts of the western, northwestern and central United States, including public agencies and commercial customers.