Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Knife River (NYSE:KNF) Stock Price

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) had its target price reduced by research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $81.00 to $75.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.60% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Zacks Research upgraded Knife River from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. B. Riley began coverage on shares of Knife River in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $92.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Knife River from $120.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Knife River to an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Knife River in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price target on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.71.

Knife River Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of Knife River stock traded down $0.51 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $68.43. 14,278 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 470,889. The company has a 50 day moving average of $74.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.76. Knife River has a fifty-two week low of $58.72 and a fifty-two week high of $106.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.39, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KNF. Baillie Gifford & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Knife River during the third quarter valued at approximately $169,020,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Knife River during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,260,000. Voss Capital LP bought a new stake in Knife River during the 3rd quarter valued at $33,823,000. Paradice Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Knife River during the fourth quarter worth $22,001,000. Finally, M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Knife River by 325.5% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 297,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,950,000 after buying an additional 227,804 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

About Knife River

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.