Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,044,184 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 503,892 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.68% of Knife River worth $400,004,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in KNF. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Knife River by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 16,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,069,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Knife River by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Knife River by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 62,430 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,132,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Financial Management Professionals Inc. purchased a new stake in Knife River during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. grew its position in Knife River by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,000 after acquiring an additional 522 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on KNF shares. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Knife River from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Stephens assumed coverage on Knife River in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Knife River in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Knife River currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.67.

Knife River Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:KNF opened at $70.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $3.97 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60. Knife River Co. has a one year low of $41.53 and a one year high of $83.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.75. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.64.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.84) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.80) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $329.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $300.98 million. Knife River had a net margin of 6.19% and a return on equity of 14.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($516.50) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Knife River Co. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Knife River

Knife River Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides aggregates- led construction materials and contracting services in the United States. It operates through Pacific, Northwest, Mountain, Central, and Energy Services segments. The company mines, processes, and sells construction aggregates, including crushed stone and sand, and gravel; and produces and sells asphalt and ready-mix concrete.