CI Investments Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Knife River Corporation $KNF

CI Investments Inc. reduced its position in Knife River Corporation (NYSE:KNF) by 15.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 79,117 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,819 shares during the period. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Knife River were worth $6,460,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KNF. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Knife River by 111.6% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 63,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,648,000 after buying an additional 33,698 shares in the last quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Knife River by 184.3% during the 4th quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 36,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,586,000 after acquiring an additional 23,764 shares during the last quarter. Paradice Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Knife River during the 4th quarter valued at about $22,001,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Knife River by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 578,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,664,000 after purchasing an additional 135,982 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Knife River by 87.8% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 255,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,978,000 after purchasing an additional 119,452 shares during the period. 80.11% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on KNF shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Knife River from $90.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Knife River from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Knife River from $80.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Knife River in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Knife River from $109.00 to $107.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Knife River presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.14.

Knife River Price Performance

Knife River stock opened at $77.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a PE ratio of 30.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.37. Knife River Corporation has a 52-week low of $58.72 and a 52-week high of $96.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average is $80.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.41.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($1.40) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.42) by $0.02. Knife River had a net margin of 4.58% and a return on equity of 9.35%. The business had revenue of $410.13 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $387.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.21) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Knife River Corporation will post 3.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Knife River 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.