47,435 Shares in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) Purchased by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Knife River Co. (NYSE:KNF) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 47,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,139,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Knife River by 80.2% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 12,147 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after acquiring an additional 5,408 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Knife River during the 3rd quarter valued at about $222,000. Simplex Trading LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Knife River during the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,000. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Knife River by 57.4% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 80,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,933,000 after acquiring an additional 29,367 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Knife River by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 11,496 shares of the company’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. 80.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Knife River Price Performance

Shares of Knife River stock traded up $2.05 on Friday, hitting $72.22. 430,519 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 362,916. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $77.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.76. Knife River Co. has a 52 week low of $33.67 and a 52 week high of $83.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.09 billion and a P/E ratio of 23.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a quick ratio of 1.49 and a current ratio of 2.75.

Knife River (NYSE:KNF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.84) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.80) by ($0.04). Knife River had a return on equity of 14.65% and a net margin of 6.19%. The business had revenue of $329.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.98 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($516.50) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Knife River Co. will post 3.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KNF shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Knife River in a report on Friday, March 8th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Loop Capital assumed coverage on shares of Knife River in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Knife River from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Knife River currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.20.

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.