Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,320,000 shares, an increase of 15.8% from the May 31st total of 1,140,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 340,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.9 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on KNF shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on Knife River in a research note on Friday, March 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Knife River from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Knife River in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $85.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.67.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Financial Management Professionals Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Knife River during the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Knife River by 38,250.0% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 767 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Knife River during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Knife River during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Knife River in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $149,000. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knife River Trading Up 1.1 %

KNF stock opened at $69.37 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Knife River has a 12-month low of $41.53 and a 12-month high of $83.78. The stock has a market cap of $3.93 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38. The business’s 50-day moving average is $72.92 and its 200 day moving average is $71.88.

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

Knife River Company Profile

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.