Ellsworth Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 6,697 Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF)

Ellsworth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 6,697 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Knife River by 138.6% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 65,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,625,000 after purchasing an additional 38,313 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in Knife River during the second quarter valued at $96,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Knife River by 122.1% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 31,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,211,000 after acquiring an additional 17,328 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of Knife River by 16.1% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 185,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,976,000 after acquiring an additional 25,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Knife River by 306.8% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 57,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,044,000 after acquiring an additional 43,486 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.11% of the company’s stock.

Knife River Stock Up 0.6 %

KNF opened at $104.91 on Monday. Knife River Co. has a 1-year low of $62.10 and a 1-year high of $108.39. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $5.94 billion, a PE ratio of 30.06, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.78.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $2.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.82 by ($0.22). Knife River had a net margin of 6.89% and a return on equity of 15.22%. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Knife River Co. will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of Knife River from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Oppenheimer raised their target price 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, DA Davidson increased their price target on Knife River from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Knife River presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $103.75.

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.