Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) by 97.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,513 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,175 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Knowles were worth $249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KN. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Knowles in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $203,000. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Knowles in the 4th quarter valued at $201,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in shares of Knowles by 43.2% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 31,490 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Knowles by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 427,068 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $8,511,000 after acquiring an additional 10,240 shares during the period. Finally, State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D raised its holdings in shares of Knowles by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 115,784 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $2,308,000 after purchasing an additional 8,390 shares during the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KN shares. StockNews.com upgraded Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Craig Hallum lowered Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $17.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 14th.

Knowles Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KN opened at $16.19 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 billion, a PE ratio of -6.11 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.47. Knowles Co. has a 1 year low of $15.00 and a 1 year high of $20.86.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.01). Knowles had a negative net margin of 34.66% and a positive return on equity of 5.52%. The business had revenue of $142.50 million for the quarter.

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).