Knowles (NYSE:KN) Rating Lowered to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Knowles (NYSE:KN - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Knowles from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Knowles from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th.

Knowles Trading Up 2.5%

NYSE KN traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $16.62. 460,291 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 685,350. Knowles has a one year low of $12.19 and a one year high of $20.86. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.27 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.83 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Knowles (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.18 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18. Knowles had a negative net margin of 34.66% and a positive return on equity of 5.52%. The business had revenue of $132.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $128.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.18 earnings per share. Knowles's quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Raymond D. Cabrera sold 5,545 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total transaction of $95,651.25. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 111,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,919,683.50. The trade was a 4.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 2.54% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knowles

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Knowles in the fourth quarter valued at $16,297,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Knowles by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 275,317 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $5,487,000 after acquiring an additional 5,019 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Knowles by 340.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,401 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,622,000 after acquiring an additional 112,354 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Knowles by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,704 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $353,000 after buying an additional 2,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Knowles by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,445 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $647,000 after buying an additional 5,825 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.35% of the company's stock.

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).