Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,870,000 shares, an increase of 34.5% from the July 31st total of 1,390,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 560,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Knowles Price Performance

KN stock opened at $18.45 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. Knowles has a one year low of $12.78 and a one year high of $19.73.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The communications equipment provider reported $0.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.18 by ($0.16). Knowles had a negative net margin of 24.36% and a positive return on equity of 5.39%. The firm had revenue of $204.70 million during the quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Susquehanna raised their price objective on Knowles from $15.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO John S. Anderson sold 10,444 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.50, for a total transaction of $193,214.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 211,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,907,200. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 2.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Knowles during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Natixis Advisors L.P. increased its stake in shares of Knowles by 43.5% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 36,616 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $655,000 after acquiring an additional 11,100 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Knowles by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,183,381 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $21,194,000 after acquiring an additional 27,075 shares in the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Knowles during the fourth quarter valued at $315,000. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Knowles by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,470 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $474,000 after purchasing an additional 1,206 shares in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).