Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Stock Gets Price Target Boost from Royal Bank Of Canada

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) had its target price lifted by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $58.00 to $59.00 in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 3.44% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KNF. Wall Street Zen cut Knife River from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Wolfe Research raised Knife River from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Knife River from $90.00 to $80.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Knife River in a research report on Monday, August 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Finally, B. Riley Financial decreased their price target on shares of Knife River from $105.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 25th. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Knife River Price Performance

KNF stock traded down $5.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $57.04. The company had a trading volume of 428,081 shares, compared to its average volume of 699,385. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $55.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.40. Knife River has a 1 year low of $47.79 and a 1 year 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 1.60.

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 net margin of 3.98% and a return on equity of 8.22%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Knife River by 49.2% during the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 591 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. William Mack & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Knife River in the third quarter worth about $34,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Knife River by 40.6% in the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 3,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 1,151 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Knife River by 267.1% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in Knife River by 26.4% during the 3rd quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $202,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares in the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.