B. Riley Begins Coverage on Knife River (NYSE:KNF)

Analysts at B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Knife River (NYSE:KNF) in a research report issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set a “buy” rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Knife River from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Knife River to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Knife River from $105.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Zacks Research raised shares of Knife River from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $81.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Knife River in a report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.57.

Knife River Trading Up 3.8%

NYSE:KNF opened at $83.31 on Thursday. Knife River has a one year low of $58.72 and a one year high of $108.83. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $74.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.39 and a quick ratio of 1.47.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $2.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.45 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $1.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.22 billion. Knife River had a return on equity of 9.97% and a net margin of 4.87%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Knife River will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Knife River by 141.8% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Country Trust Bank bought a new position in Knife River during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quent Capital LLC purchased a new position in Knife River during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $47,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Knife River in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Knife River by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Knife River Company Profile

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.