Knife River (NYSE:KNF – Get Free Report) and Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP – Get Free Report) are both construction companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their dividends, valuation, profitability, earnings, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations and risk.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Knife River and Compass Minerals International, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Knife River | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3.00 |
| Compass Minerals International | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.00 |
Knife River currently has a consensus target price of $54.00, indicating a potential upside of 21.84%. Compass Minerals International has a consensus target price of $58.00, indicating a potential upside of 60.71%. Given Compass Minerals International’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Compass Minerals International is more favorable than Knife River.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
Profitability
This table compares Knife River and Compass Minerals International’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Knife River | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Compass Minerals International | -2.99% | -6.08% | -1.39% |
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Knife River and Compass Minerals International’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Knife River | $2.53 billion | 0.99 | $116.22 million | N/A | N/A |
| Compass Minerals International | $1.24 billion | 1.19 | -$25.10 million | ($0.97) | -37.21 |
Knife River has higher revenue and earnings than Compass Minerals International.
About Knife River
Knife River Corporation provides aggregates-based construction materials and contracting services in the United States. It operates through six segments: Pacific, Northwest, Mountain, North Central, South, and Energy Services. It mines, processes, and sells construction aggregates, including crushed stone and sand, and gravel; and produces and sells asphalt and ready-mix concrete, as well as provides contracting services to support the aggregate-based product lines, including heavy-civil construction, asphalt and concrete paving, and site development and grading. It serves various projects related to highways, airports, and other public infrastructure. The company was founded in 1917 and is based in Bismarck, North Dakota.
About Compass Minerals International
Compass Minerals International, Inc., produces and sells essential minerals primarily in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products. This segment provides products for use as a deicer for roadways, consumer, and professional use; as an ingredient in chemical production; for water treatment, human, and animal nutrition; and for various other consumer and industrial uses, as well as records management services. The Plant Nutrition segment produces, markets, and sells sulfate of potash specialty fertilizers in various grades that are used in broadcast spreaders, direct application, and liquid fertilizer solutions under the Protassium+ brand; turf products used by the turf and ornamental markets, as well as for blends used on golf course greens; and organic products. This segment provides its products to distributors and retailers of crop inputs, as well as growers. The company was formerly known as Salt Holdings Corporation and changed its name to Compass Minerals International, Inc. in December 2003. Compass Minerals International, Inc. was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.
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