Knowles (NYSE:KN) Reaches New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $19.74 and last traded at $19.60, with a volume of 119578 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KN shares. Craig Hallum upgraded Knowles to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Knowles from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 26th.

Knowles Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.72.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. Knowles had a positive return on equity of 5.16% and a negative net margin of 27.53%. The business had revenue of $142.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 31.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Insider Activity at Knowles

In other Knowles news, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 3,762 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total value of $73,208.52. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 61,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,312.26. The trade was a 5.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Robert J. Perna sold 21,080 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.56, for a total value of $370,164.80. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 66,063 shares in the company, valued at $1,160,066.28. This trade represents a 24.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 201,845 shares of company stock worth $3,774,234 over the last ninety days. 2.57% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knowles

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Knowles by 2.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,475,339 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $169,135,000 after acquiring an additional 265,814 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Knowles by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,018,615 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $36,403,000 after acquiring an additional 7,658 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Knowles by 340.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,401 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,622,000 after purchasing an additional 112,354 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of Knowles by 2.2% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 66,201 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. raised its stake in shares of Knowles by 11.0% in the third quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. now owns 18,100 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).