KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) Short Interest Up 43.8% in March

KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 264,665 shares, a growth of 43.8% from the March 15th total of 184,109 shares. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 224,959 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KNOT Offshore Partners

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 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 valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 4,836 shares during the period. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new stake in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners during the 2nd quarter worth $68,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in KNOT Offshore Partners by 220.3% in the 2nd 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 last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers bought a new position in KNOT Offshore Partners in the 4th quarter worth $125,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in KNOT Offshore Partners in the 1st quarter worth $130,000. 26.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KNOT Offshore Partners Trading Down 0.8%

KNOT Offshore Partners stock traded down $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $10.14. The stock had a trading volume of 53,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 173,758. KNOT Offshore Partners has a twelve month low of $6.16 and a twelve month high of $11.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 0.26 and a quick ratio of 0.25. The firm has a market cap of $345.00 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90 and a beta of -0.10. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.04.

KNOT Offshore Partners Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This is a positive change from KNOT Offshore Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.03. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 27th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. KNOT Offshore Partners’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KNOP has been the subject of several research reports. Fearnley Fonds upgraded shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Zacks Research lowered shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut KNOT Offshore Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

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.