KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.00.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KNOP. Zacks Research raised KNOT Offshore Partners from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Wall Street Zen raised KNOT Offshore Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th.

KNOT Offshore Partners Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of KNOP stock opened at $11.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $388.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.22 and a beta of -0.05. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.55. KNOT Offshore Partners has a 1 year low of $8.00 and a 1 year high of $11.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 0.34 and a quick ratio of 0.33.

KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, September 4th. The shipping company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.03) by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $96.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $88.65 million. KNOT Offshore Partners had a return on equity of 5.73% and a net margin of 3.90%. As a group, analysts anticipate that KNOT Offshore Partners will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KNOT Offshore Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, July 27th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This is an increase from KNOT Offshore Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 27th. KNOT Offshore Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.18%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Trygve Seglem bought 1,250,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $25,000,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,458,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,166,660. The trade was a 600.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada purchased a new position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners by 115.0% in the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,042 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 4,836 shares in the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP purchased a new stake in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in the second quarter worth $68,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in KNOT Offshore Partners by 220.3% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 16,557 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $104,000 after buying an additional 11,388 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new position in KNOT Offshore Partners during the fourth quarter worth about $125,000. 26.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About KNOT Offshore Partners

KNOT Offshore Partners LP is a publicly traded limited partnership formed in 2013 to own and operate shuttle tankers under long‐term charters in the offshore oil industry. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KNOP, the partnership specializes in the transportation of crude oil from offshore production facilities to onshore refineries. Its fleet comprises moderne shuttle tankers equipped with dynamic positioning systems, enabling safe transfer operations in harsh weather and sea conditions.

The partnership’s vessels primarily serve fields in the North Sea, Brazil and West Africa, where they operate under multi‐year contracts with major energy producers.