Short Interest in Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) Expands By 13.6%

Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,840,275 shares, a growth of 13.6% from the March 31st total of 2,499,938 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 524,203 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.4 days. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Knowles Price Performance

Shares of KN stock opened at $31.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 3.27 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.41 and a beta of 1.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.79. Knowles has a one year low of $15.85 and a one year high of $31.95.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $153.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.40 million. Knowles had a net margin of 9.10% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.18 EPS. Knowles has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.280-0.320 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Knowles will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Knowles from $30.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Knowles from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Knowles in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knowles

In other Knowles news, SVP Raymond D. Cabrera sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.75, for a total transaction of $267,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 102,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,729,008.25. This represents a 8.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Daniel J. Giesecke sold 15,885 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.22, for a total transaction of $432,389.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 164,963 shares in the company, valued at $4,490,292.86. This represents a 8.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 208,742 shares of company stock worth $5,617,539. Insiders own 2.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knowles

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 2,385.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 23,342 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 22,403 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 212.9% during the first quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 973 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 66.2% during the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 217,386 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $5,582,000 after purchasing an additional 86,563 shares in the last quarter. Abel Hall LLC boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 8.9% during the first quarter. Abel Hall LLC now owns 14,325 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 63.3% during the first quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 44,494 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 17,250 shares in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by 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.