Knowles (NYSE:KN) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Knowles (NYSE:KN) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday morning.

KN has been the subject of several other research reports. Zacks Research upgraded Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Knowles from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Knowles from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird set a $44.00 target price on shares of Knowles in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Knowles in a research note on Friday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.67.

Knowles Stock Performance

NYSE KN opened at $37.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. 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 $38.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.57. The firm has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.67 and a beta of 1.60.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 23rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. Knowles had a return on equity of 11.45% and a net margin of 10.63%.The firm had revenue of $166.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Knowles has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Knowles will post 1.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Knowles

In other news, COO Daniel J. Giesecke sold 20,201 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.32, for a total value of $753,901.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 175,855 shares in the company, valued at $6,562,908.60. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Raymond D. Cabrera sold 6,178 shares of the firm’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 owned 127,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,641,844.60. This trade represents a 4.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 2.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its stake 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 during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its stake in shares of Knowles by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 76,098 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Knowles by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 16,612 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Knowles by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 12,137 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $312,000 after acquiring an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Knowles by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 53,002 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Knowles

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.