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

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Knowles (NYSE:KN - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

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

Knowles Price Performance

NYSE KN traded up $0.22 on Friday, hitting $16.57. 541,957 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 685,510. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.54 and a 200-day moving average of $17.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Knowles has a 52 week low of $12.19 and a 52 week high of $20.86. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.25 and a beta of 1.40.

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

Insider Activity at Knowles

In other Knowles news, SVP Raymond D. Cabrera sold 5,545 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was 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. This trade represents a 4.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Knowles

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Knowles during the 1st quarter worth about $664,000. Jane Street Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Knowles during the 1st quarter worth about $3,335,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Knowles by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 238,557 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $3,626,000 after purchasing an additional 15,827 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Knowles during the 1st quarter worth about $533,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Knowles by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 51,722 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $786,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245 shares in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).