Knowles (NYSE:KN) Receives Hold (C-) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Knowles (NYSE:KN) has received a "hold (C-)" rating from Weiss Ratings, while other brokerages have issued a mix of ratings, resulting in a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $21.00.
• The company's stock has been performing well, trading at $23.67 recently, with a market cap of $2.03 billion and a 12-month high of $24.53.
• Institutional investors have shown increasing interest, with significant ownership changes, including Osaic Holdings increasing their stake by 94.5% in the second quarter.

Knowles (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold (c-)" rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on KN. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Knowles from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 13th. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on shares of Knowles from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.00.

Knowles Stock Performance

Shares of KN stock opened at $23.67 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.00, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.38. The company has a market cap of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 81.62 and a beta of 1.53. Knowles has a 12 month low of $12.19 and a 12 month high of $24.53.

Insider Transactions at Knowles

In other news, SVP Robert J. Perna sold 56,130 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.47, for a total value of $1,148,981.10. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 66,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,362,319.44. This represents a 45.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.94, for a total transaction of $209,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 62,537 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,309,524.78. The trade was a 13.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knowles

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Knowles by 94.5% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 1,842 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 895 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Knowles by 47.0% in the first quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,703 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 1,184 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of Knowles in the first quarter valued at about $106,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Knowles by 118.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,482 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 3,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its position in Knowles by 283.2% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 10,265 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $181,000 after purchasing an additional 7,586 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).

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