Knightscope (NASDAQ:KSCP) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Ascendiant Capital Markets Analyst Says

Key Points

• Ascendiant Capital Markets raised its price objective on Knightscope to $26 and kept a "buy" rating, but the Street consensus is a Moderate Buy with a lower average target of $15.33 and mixed analyst views.
• Shares trade near $3.40 with a $55.4M market cap; the company reported a quarterly EPS loss of $(0.92) that missed estimates, has deeply negative profitability metrics, and analysts project a sharply negative full-year EPS (-12.15).
• Knightscope develops autonomous security robots and has attracted some institutional buyers (including Vanguard and Jane Street), though institutions own only about 14.6% of the stock.

Knightscope (NASDAQ:KSCP - Get Free Report) had its price objective upped by equities researchers at Ascendiant Capital Markets from $25.00 to $26.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Knightscope from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Knightscope in a research report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Knightscope in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Knightscope currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.33.

Knightscope Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KSCP opened at $3.40 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $3.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $4.49. Knightscope has a 1 year low of $2.92 and a 1 year high of $10.14. The company has a market capitalization of $55.35 million, a PE ratio of -0.83 and a beta of 1.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.64 and a current ratio of 3.99.

Knightscope (NASDAQ:KSCP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, March 27th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.73) by ($0.19). Knightscope had a negative return on equity of 153.81% and a negative net margin of 298.32%.The firm had revenue of $2.54 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 million. On average, research analysts predict that Knightscope will post -12.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knightscope

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KSCP. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Knightscope in the fourth quarter valued at about $278,000. Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Knightscope in the third quarter valued at about $245,000. Jane Street Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Knightscope by 253.0% in the fourth quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 56,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 40,141 shares during the period. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Knightscope in the third quarter valued at about $151,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Knightscope by 9.6% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 276,857 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,597,000 after purchasing an additional 24,283 shares during the period. 14.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knightscope Company Profile

Knightscope, Inc NASDAQ: KSCP is a technology company specializing in the design and deployment of autonomous security robots. The firm offers a robotics-as-a-service platform that integrates self-driving devices with artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities to enhance perimeter security, detect anomalies and deliver real-time incident reporting.

Since its founding in 2013 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, Knightscope has developed a series of fully autonomous models—designated K1 through K7—suited for indoor and outdoor environments.

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