Knowles (NYSE:KN) Hits New 1-Year High - Still a Buy?

Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $20.31 and last traded at $20.28, with a volume of 294666 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.82.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KN shares. Craig Hallum raised Knowles to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on 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 cut shares of Knowles from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, October 26th.

Knowles Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.92. The stock has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.47 and a beta of 1.44.

Knowles (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $142.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. Knowles had a negative net margin of 27.53% and a positive return on equity of 5.16%. The firm's revenue was up 31.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share.

Insider Activity at Knowles

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Niew sold 157,699 shares of Knowles stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.98, for a total value of $2,993,127.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 820,698 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,576,848.04. The trade was a 16.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Cheryl L. Shavers sold 12,579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.29, for a total transaction of $217,490.91. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 48,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $846,051.57. This represents a 20.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 201,845 shares of company stock worth $3,774,234 in the last three months. 2.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Knowles

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Knowles by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,475,339 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $169,135,000 after purchasing an additional 265,814 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $115,277,000 after buying an additional 375,822 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 54,279.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,621,626 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $47,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,616,805 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Knowles by 33.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,392,668 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $43,140,000 after acquiring an additional 594,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Knowles by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,018,615 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,403,000 after acquiring an additional 7,658 shares in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Knowles

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).

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