KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

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

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research raised KNOT Offshore Partners from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $14.00.

KNOT Offshore Partners Stock Performance

Shares of KNOP opened at $11.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $388.30 million, a PE ratio of 26.22 and a beta of -0.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.33. KNOT Offshore Partners has a one year low of $8.00 and a one year high of $11.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $10.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.55.

KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, September 4th. The shipping company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.13. The company had revenue of $96.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $88.65 million. KNOT Offshore Partners had a net margin of 3.90% and a return on equity of 5.73%. As a group, analysts expect that KNOT Offshore Partners will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KNOT Offshore Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, July 27th were given a dividend of $0.075 per share. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. This is a boost from KNOT Offshore Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 27th. KNOT Offshore Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.18%.

Insider Transactions at KNOT Offshore Partners

In other news, Director Trygve Seglem purchased 1,250,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $25,000,000.00. Following 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 purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Institutional Trading of KNOT Offshore Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada acquired a new stake in KNOT Offshore Partners during the first quarter worth $25,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in KNOT Offshore Partners by 115.0% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,042 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 4,836 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in KNOT Offshore Partners in the second quarter worth about $68,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in KNOT Offshore Partners by 220.3% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 16,557 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 11,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in KNOT Offshore Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $125,000. 26.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.