Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) by 23.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 520,262 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 98,804 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Knife River were worth $52,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Knife River by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,003,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,054,000 after acquiring an additional 34,646 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Knife River by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,561,000 after acquiring an additional 26,198 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Knife River by 830.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,101,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $111,965,000 after purchasing an additional 983,223 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Knife River by 1,200.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 887,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,224,000 after acquiring an additional 819,439 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. raised its stake in Knife River by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 696,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,766,000 after purchasing an additional 16,698 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Knife River Stock Down 7.3 %

KNF stock opened at $83.98 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $95.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 1.64. Knife River Co. has a 1-year low of $66.13 and a 1-year high of $108.83. The firm has a market cap of $4.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.72, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $657.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $655.80 million. Knife River had a return on equity of 14.82% and a net margin of 6.96%. Research analysts predict that Knife River Co. will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KNF shares. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Knife River in a report on Monday, March 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $102.00 price objective on the stock. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Knife River from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $120.00 target price on shares of Knife River in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.40.

Knife River 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.