Knife River Corp (KNF) stock analysis

P/E below its 5-year median

Knife River's P/E of 23.8 is below its own 5-year median of 25.6.

P/E below the industry

Knife River's P/E of 23.8 is below the Mining & quarrying of nonmetallic minerals (no fuels) median of 25.1.

EV/EBITDA below its 5-year median

Knife River's EV/EBITDA of 10.0 is below its 5-year median of 11.8.

P/B above the industry

Knife River's price-to-book of 2.06 is above the Mining & quarrying of nonmetallic minerals (no fuels) median of 1.80.

Trading above fair value

The share price of $58.33 is above our fair value estimate of $55.13.

Margin of safety under 20%

The price is 5.8% above fair value, so there is no margin of safety.

Revenue growing under 10% a year

Revenue grew 7.5% a year over the last three fiscal years, short of the 10% we look for.

EPS growing 10%+ a year

Diluted EPS grew 10.4% a year over the last three fiscal years.

Earnings acceleration

Needs positive net income now, a year ago and five years ago.

Growing faster than the industry

Revenue grew 12.1% over the last twelve months; the Mining & quarrying of nonmetallic minerals (no fuels) median is 8.3%.

Guidance raised

Knife River raised its full-year 2026 Revenue outlook on Aug 4, 2026.

Gross margin slipping

Gross margin was 17.8% over the last twelve months, against 18.1% a year earlier.

Return on equity under 15%

Return on equity was 9.1% over the last twelve months and averaged 13.3% over five years; we look for 15% on both.

Return on capital under 10%

Return on invested capital was 6.8%, below the 10% that usually covers the cost of capital.

Return on equity above the industry

Knife River's return on equity of 9.1% is above the Mining & quarrying of nonmetallic minerals (no fuels) median of 4.8%.

Earnings over 5 years

Needs positive net income five years ago and in the latest year.

Net margin below its 5-year average

Net margin was 4.2% over the last twelve months, against a 5-year average of 5.8%.

Net margin below the industry

Knife River's net margin of 4.2% is below the Mining & quarrying of nonmetallic minerals (no fuels) median of 4.2%.

High debt

Debt is 101% of shareholders' equity, above the 40% we consider low.

Debt trend

Needs a balance sheet from five years ago with positive equity.

Debt not well covered by cash flow

Operating cash flow over the last twelve months equals 19.3% of total debt; we look for at least 20%.

Interest not well covered

Operating income covers interest expense 3.1 times; we look for at least 5.

Short-term assets cover short-term debts

Current assets are 2.66 times current liabilities.

Bankruptcy risk in the grey zone

The Altman Z-score is 2.34; above 3 is the safe zone and below 1.8 the distress zone.

No dividend

Knife River has not paid a dividend in the last twelve months.

Yield against Treasuries

No dividend.

Yield against the market

No dividend.

Dividend stability

No dividend.

Earnings cover

No dividend.

Cash-flow cover

No dividend.