KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Sell”

Wall Street Zen cut shares of KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on KNOP. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Fearnley Fonds raised shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

KNOT Offshore Partners Stock Performance

KNOP opened at $10.59 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.50. KNOT Offshore Partners has a 52-week low of $6.90 and a 52-week high of $11.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $356.29 million, a PE ratio of 19.60 and a beta of -0.05.

KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.09). KNOT Offshore Partners had a return on equity of 6.36% and a net margin of 4.92%.The company had revenue of $92.01 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.35 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KNOT Offshore Partners will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KNOT Offshore Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 27th will be issued a $0.075 dividend. This is an increase from KNOT Offshore Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 27th. KNOT Offshore Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Insider Transactions at KNOT Offshore Partners

In other news, Director Trygve Seglem acquired 1,250,000 shares of KNOT Offshore Partners stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,458,333 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,166,660. The trade was a 600.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KNOT Offshore Partners

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. American Beacon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in KNOT Offshore Partners by 182.6% in the 4th quarter. American Beacon Advisors Inc. now owns 503,895 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 325,588 shares during the period. Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new position in KNOT Offshore Partners during the 4th quarter worth $1,294,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in KNOT Offshore Partners by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,335,435 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $13,461,000 after acquiring an additional 108,400 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners during the 1st quarter valued at $643,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 145,483 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,506,000 after acquiring an additional 52,538 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.82% of the company’s stock.

About KNOT Offshore Partners

KNOT Offshore Partners LP is a publicly traded limited partnership formed in 2013 to own and operate shuttle tankers under long?term charters in the offshore oil industry. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KNOP, the partnership specializes in the transportation of crude oil from offshore production facilities to onshore refineries. Its fleet comprises moderne shuttle tankers equipped with dynamic positioning systems, enabling safe transfer operations in harsh weather and sea conditions.

The partnership’s vessels primarily serve fields in the North Sea, Brazil and West Africa, where they operate under multi?year contracts with major energy producers.