Knowles (NYSE:KN) Raised to "Buy" at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Knowles (NYSE:KN - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Separately, Craig Hallum raised Knowles from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $17.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th.

Knowles Trading Up 1.1 %

KN stock traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $14.41. 1,194,423 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 672,764. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.44 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $15.88 and a 200-day moving average of $17.89. Knowles has a 52-week low of $12.19 and a 52-week high of $20.86.

Knowles (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.01). Knowles had a positive return on equity of 5.52% and a negative net margin of 34.66%. The company had revenue of $142.50 million during the quarter.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Knowles by 340.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,401 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $2,622,000 after acquiring an additional 112,354 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Knowles by 0.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,018,615 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,403,000 after purchasing an additional 7,658 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Knowles by 2.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 9,475,339 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock worth $169,135,000 after purchasing an additional 265,814 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Knowles by 10.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,051,346 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $36,986,000 after buying an additional 191,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Knowles in the 4th quarter valued at about $194,000. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Knowles Company Profile

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).