Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) saw a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,810,000 shares, a decline of 21.1% from the March 15th total of 3,560,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 816,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.4 days. Currently, 3.3% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Knowles Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE:KN traded down $0.17 on Monday, hitting $14.27. 950,547 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 673,875. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.38 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.83. Knowles has a 52 week low of $12.19 and a 52 week high of $20.86. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $15.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $17.87.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.01). Knowles had a positive return on equity of 5.52% and a negative net margin of 34.66%. The business had revenue of $142.50 million for the quarter.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knowles

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KN. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Knowles by 725.6% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,643 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Knowles by 46.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,095 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 669 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Knowles by 835.5% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,741 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $55,000 after buying an additional 2,448 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Knowles by 72.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,451 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Knowles by 66.6% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,869 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,947 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on KN. StockNews.com raised shares of Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Craig Hallum raised Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Knowles Company Profile

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).