Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $13.62 Million Stock Holdings in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF - Free Report) by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 152,329 shares of the company's stock after selling 39,646 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.27% of Knife River worth $13,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KNF. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in Knife River by 12.2% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,064,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $144,785,000 after buying an additional 224,373 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Knife River by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,003,069 shares of the company's stock worth $179,054,000 after acquiring an additional 34,646 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Knife River by 2.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,337,273 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,561,000 after purchasing an additional 26,198 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Knife River by 5.3% during the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 761,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,377,000 after purchasing an additional 38,152 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Knife River by 0.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 699,333 shares of the company's stock worth $62,513,000 after purchasing an additional 5,791 shares during the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KNF has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Knife River from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Loop Capital cut their price target on shares of Knife River from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Knife River from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.20.

Knife River Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE KNF traded down $1.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $102.97. The stock had a trading volume of 276,379 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,789. The company's 50 day moving average price is $99.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 2.72. Knife River Co. has a twelve month low of $61.50 and a twelve month high of $108.39. The firm has a market cap of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.70.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 EPS. Knife River's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Knife River Co. will post 3.49 EPS for the current 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.