Zacks Research Upgrades Knowles (NYSE:KN) to “Strong-Buy”

Knowles (NYSE:KN) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

KN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Knowles from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Knowles from $40.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird set a $50.00 target price on shares of Knowles in a report on Friday, October 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Knowles from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Knowles presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.00.

Knowles Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Knowles stock opened at $34.97 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.94, a quick ratio of 1.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Knowles has a 12-month low of $20.57 and a 12-month high of $42.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.47 and a beta of 1.59. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.88.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.36 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $184.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $172.10 million. Knowles had a return on equity of 11.82% and a net margin of 10.76%. Knowles’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.33 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Knowles will post 1.10 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knowles

In other Knowles news, Director Cheryl Shavers sold 6,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.27, for a total transaction of $259,888.86. Following the sale, the director directly owned 35,723 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,402,842.21. The trade was a 15.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 2.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knowles

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KN. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Knowles during the second quarter worth approximately $571,614,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Knowles during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,698,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Knowles by 66.2% during the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 217,386 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,582,000 after buying an additional 86,563 shares in the last quarter. Andar Capital Management HK Ltd purchased a new stake in Knowles during the second quarter worth approximately $4,853,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Knowles during the second quarter worth approximately $30,158,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

Knowles Company Profile

Knowles Corporation (NYSE: KN) is a global manufacturer of advanced electronic components and solutions for audio, communications, medical, industrial and other specialized applications. The company develops products that support sound capture, audio processing, signal management and high-performance connectivity in a range of electronic devices and systems.

Its portfolio includes microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphones, audio processors, speakers, receivers, balanced armature drivers and other acoustic components.