Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) Short Interest Update

Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,570,000 shares, an increase of 7.5% from the August 15th total of 1,460,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 383,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Knife River Price Performance

KNF traded up $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $89.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 490,709 shares, compared to its average volume of 384,463. The company has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.79, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.62. Knife River has a 1 year low of $46.51 and a 1 year high of $91.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.52.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.24 by $0.13. Knife River had a return on equity of 15.73% and a net margin of 6.88%. The company had revenue of $806.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $803.81 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Knife River will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knife River

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Knife River in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Knife River in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 765 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Knife River during the 2nd quarter valued at about $96,000. Finally, Horan Capital Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Knife River in the 1st quarter valued at about $203,000. 80.11% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stephens started coverage on shares of Knife River in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $85.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.