Craig Hallum Upgrades Knowles (NYSE:KN) to Buy

Craig Hallum upgraded shares of Knowles (NYSE:KN - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Craig Hallum currently has $17.00 price objective on the communications equipment provider's stock.

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Knowles from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 17th.

Knowles Price Performance

KN traded up $0.02 during trading on Monday, reaching $14.57. 925,551 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 663,522. Knowles has a 12-month low of $12.19 and a 12-month high of $20.86. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.00. 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 company has a market cap of $1.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.50 and a beta of 1.41.

Knowles (NYSE:KN - Get Free Report) last announced 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 negative net margin of 34.66% and a positive return on equity of 5.52%. The company had revenue of $142.50 million during the quarter.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knowles

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Knowles in the 4th quarter valued at $16,297,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Knowles by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 275,317 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $5,487,000 after buying an additional 5,019 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 265,814 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Knowles by 340.0% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Knowles by 74.6% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 31,166 shares of the communications equipment provider's stock valued at $562,000 after acquiring an additional 13,320 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).