Knowles (NYSE:KN) Stock Rating Upgraded by Craig Hallum

Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Knowles (NYSE:KN) to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Knowles from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th.

Knowles Price Performance

Knowles stock opened at $17.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 20.36 and a beta of 1.42. Knowles has a 52-week low of $12.78 and a 52-week high of $19.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.30, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company’s 50 day moving average is $17.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $17.29.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by ($0.16). Knowles had a negative net margin of 24.36% and a positive return on equity of 5.39%. The firm had revenue of $204.70 million during the quarter.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Knowles news, CFO John S. Anderson sold 10,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total transaction of $193,214.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 211,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,907,200. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Knowles news, CFO John S. Anderson sold 10,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total transaction of $193,214.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 211,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,907,200. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Cheryl L. Shavers sold 12,579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total transaction of $217,490.91. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 48,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $846,051.57. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 29,748 shares of company stock valued at $530,948. Insiders own 2.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Knowles

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Knowles in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Knowles by 114.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,002 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Knowles in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Knowles by 37.6% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,445 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Knowles in the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

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).