AQR Capital Management LLC Buys 46,187 Shares of Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF)

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) by 28.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 207,342 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,187 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Knife River worth $14,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KNF. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Knife River by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,044,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,004,000 after acquiring an additional 503,892 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in shares of Knife River by 12.2% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,064,224 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,785,000 after purchasing an additional 224,373 shares during the period. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Knife River by 48.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilder Gagnon Howe & Co. LLC now owns 1,150,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,138,000 after purchasing an additional 373,359 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Knife River by 122.2% in the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 819,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $54,221,000 after buying an additional 450,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its position in Knife River by 5.3% during the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 761,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,377,000 after buying an additional 38,152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Knife River Stock Performance

Shares of Knife River stock opened at $88.49 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of 28.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.24 and a 200-day moving average of $76.48. Knife River Co. has a 1-year low of $46.51 and a 1-year high of $93.77.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.24 by $0.13. Knife River had a return on equity of 15.73% and a net margin of 6.88%. The firm had revenue of $806.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $803.81 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.00 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Knife River Co. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens initiated coverage on Knife River in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $85.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.60.

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.