Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF - Free Report) by 20.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,329 shares of the company's stock after selling 39,646 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.27% of Knife River worth $13,617,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KNF. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Knife River by 129.4% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 312 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Knife River in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Knife River in the second quarter worth about $43,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Knife River in the second quarter worth about $96,000. Finally, Greenleaf Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Knife River during the third quarter worth about $214,000. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knife River Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KNF opened at $94.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.74. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $91.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $79.97. Knife River Co. has a 12 month low of $56.36 and a 12 month high of $103.33.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 4th. The company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.82 by ($0.22). The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.12 billion. Knife River had a net margin of 6.89% and a return on equity of 15.22%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.58 EPS. Analysts expect that Knife River Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KNF has been the topic of several research reports. 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. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Knife River from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Knife River from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Knife River presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $93.67.

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.