Knowles (NYSE:KN) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) reached a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $19.74 and last traded at $19.60, with a volume of 119578 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $18.93.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on KN shares. Craig Hallum upgraded Knowles to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of Knowles from $20.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th.

Knowles Price Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.09 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 1.67.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.20 by $0.06. Knowles had a positive return on equity of 5.16% and a negative net margin of 27.53%. The firm had revenue of $142.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.25 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 31.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Niew sold 157,699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.98, for a total transaction of $2,993,127.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 820,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,576,848.04. This represents a 16.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 3,762 shares of Knowles stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.46, for a total value of $73,208.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 61,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,200,312.26. The trade was a 5.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 201,845 shares of company stock valued at $3,774,234. 2.57% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knowles

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Knowles by 54,279.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,621,626 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $47,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,805 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Knowles by 33.1% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,392,668 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $43,140,000 after purchasing an additional 594,484 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Knowles by 569.5% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 665,947 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $11,494,000 after purchasing an additional 566,476 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Knowles by 6.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,678,995 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $115,277,000 after buying an additional 375,822 shares during the period. Finally, Foundry Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Knowles during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,243,000. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).