Knowles (NYSE:KN) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

Knowles (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Tuesday.

Separately, Craig Hallum raised shares of Knowles from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th.

Knowles Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KN traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $14.57. 925,551 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 664,435. The company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.50 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.83. Knowles has a twelve month low of $12.19 and a twelve month high of $20.86. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $16.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.00.

Knowles (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $142.50 million during the quarter. Knowles had a negative net margin of 34.66% and a positive return on equity of 5.52%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knowles

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC bought a new position in Knowles in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,798,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Knowles during the 4th quarter valued at about $16,297,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Knowles by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,392,668 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $43,140,000 after purchasing an additional 594,484 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Knowles in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,983,000. Finally, Royce & Associates LP grew its position in shares of Knowles by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 1,225,524 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $24,425,000 after buying an additional 355,401 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).