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

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Knowles from “strong buy” to “buy,” although the stock retains a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $40.67.
• Knowles exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.33 in adjusted EPS versus a $0.31 estimate and revenue of $166.8 million, up 14.3% year over year.
• Insiders sold approximately $5.7 million worth of shares over the past three months, while institutional investors own 96.35% of the company.

Knowles (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Knowles from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings raised Knowles from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $44.00 price target on Knowles in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Craig Hallum reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Knowles in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price objective on Knowles from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.67.

Knowles Price Performance

Shares of KN opened at $36.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a PE ratio of 47.68 and a beta of 1.59. Knowles has a 52-week low of $19.29 and a 52-week high of $42.93. The business's 50 day moving average price is $38.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $31.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 3.20.

Knowles (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $166.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.97 million. Knowles had a net margin of 10.63% and a return on equity of 11.45%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.24 EPS. Knowles has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Knowles will post 1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Raymond D. Cabrera sold 6,178 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.28, for a total transaction of $224,137.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 127,945 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,641,844.60. The trade was a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Jeffrey Niew sold 142,857 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.25, for a total transaction of $4,749,995.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 883,719 shares in the company, valued at $29,383,656.75. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 169,236 shares of company stock worth $5,728,034 over the last three months. 2.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Knowles

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Knowles in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,818,000. Rockland Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Knowles during the second quarter valued at approximately $321,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Knowles by 35.9% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,151 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank bought a new stake in Knowles during the second quarter worth $80,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Knowles by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,137 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $312,000 after buying an additional 609 shares during the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Knowles Company Profile

Knowles Corporation NYSE: KN is a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced micro-acoustic, audio processing and precision device solutions. The company's product portfolio includes microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphones, balanced armature receivers, acoustic filters, and custom audio processing integrated circuits. These solutions are designed to enable clear speech, enhanced voice capture and intelligent audio performance in a variety of end markets.

Founded in 1946, Knowles has evolved from its roots in vacuum tube components to become a pure-play audio technology provider following its spin-off from Dover Corporation in 2014.

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