Knowles (NYSE:KN) Reaches New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $27.43 and last traded at $27.52, with a volume of 816354 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $26.98.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research raised Knowles to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knowles in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $30.00 price objective on shares of Knowles in a report on Friday, October 24th. Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 target price on shares of Knowles in a research report on Friday. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on Knowles from $18.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.67.

Knowles Trading Up 1.0%

The firm has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.43 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a current ratio of 2.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $23.40 and its 200-day moving average is $22.55.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. Knowles had a return on equity of 9.76% and a net margin of 7.45%.The firm had revenue of $162.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.23 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Knowles has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.220-0.260 EPS.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey Niew sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.50, for a total transaction of $1,987,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 739,370 shares in the company, valued at $19,593,305. This represents a 9.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 200,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,050,000. 2.54% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Knowles

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Knowles by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,108,184 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $119,072,000 after purchasing an additional 484,500 shares in the last quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC raised its stake in shares of Knowles by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 1,421,713 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $33,140,000 after purchasing an additional 75,367 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Knowles by 365.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,394,341 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $32,502,000 after buying an additional 1,094,715 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Knowles by 52.8% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,360,918 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $31,723,000 after acquiring an additional 470,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Knowles by 6.1% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,220,236 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $21,635,000 after purchasing an additional 70,078 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.35% of the company’s stock.

About Knowles

Knowles Corporation (NYSE: KN) is a leading developer and manufacturer of advanced micro-acoustic, audio processing and precision device solutions. The company’s product portfolio includes microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphones, balanced armature receivers, acoustic filters, and custom audio processing integrated circuits. These solutions are designed to enable clear speech, enhanced voice capture and intelligent audio performance in a variety of end markets.

Founded in 1946, Knowles has evolved from its roots in vacuum tube components to become a pure-play audio technology provider following its spin-off from Dover Corporation in 2014.