Knowles (NYSE:KN) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Knowles (NYSE:KN) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Monday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on KN. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Knowles from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Craig Hallum cut shares of Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday.

Knowles Price Performance

Shares of KN stock traded up $0.11 during trading on Monday, hitting $18.36. The company had a trading volume of 1,607,776 shares, compared to its average volume of 508,772. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.84 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. Knowles has a 52 week low of $15.00 and a 52 week high of $20.85.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.01). Knowles had a negative net margin of 27.53% and a positive return on equity of 5.16%. The firm had revenue of $142.50 million during the quarter.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Knowles by 54,279.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,621,626 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after buying an additional 2,616,805 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Knowles by 3.7% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 196,056 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $3,535,000 after acquiring an additional 7,059 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted 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 valued at $169,135,000 after acquiring an additional 265,814 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Knowles by 340.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,401 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,622,000 after acquiring an additional 112,354 shares during the period. Finally, Olympiad Research LP bought a new stake in shares of Knowles during the 3rd quarter valued at about $494,000. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).