Eagle Asset Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 554,148 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 104,750 shares during the quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Knowles were worth $10,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Knowles by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,410,368 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $25,429,000 after acquiring an additional 178,745 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Knowles by 54,279.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,621,626 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,805 shares in the last quarter. Foundry Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Knowles during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,243,000. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Knowles by 113.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 41,856 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 22,223 shares during the period. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Knowles in the third quarter worth $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Knowles Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of KN stock opened at $18.93 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.09 and a beta of 1.42. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $17.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.69. Knowles Co. has a fifty-two week low of $14.97 and a fifty-two week high of $19.73.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $142.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. Knowles had a negative net margin of 27.53% and a positive return on equity of 5.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knowles

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Niew sold 157,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.98, for a total value of $2,993,127.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 820,698 shares in the company, valued at $15,576,848.04. This represents a 16.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 3,762 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total transaction of $73,208.52. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 61,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,312.26. This represents a 5.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 201,845 shares of company stock worth $3,774,234 in the last ninety days. 2.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on KN shares. Craig Hallum upgraded Knowles to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of Knowles from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th.

About Knowles

Knowles Corporation offers capacitors, radio frequency (RF) filtering products, balanced armature speakers, micro-acoustic microphones, and audio solutions in Asia, the United States, Europe, other Americas, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Precision Devices (PD); Medtech & Specialty Audio (MSA); and Consumer MEMS Microphones (CMM).