KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Sunday morning.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research raised KNOT Offshore Partners from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $14.00.

KNOT Offshore Partners Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of KNOT Offshore Partners stock opened at $10.58 on Friday. KNOT Offshore Partners has a 1-year low of $6.95 and a 1-year high of $11.78. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 0.25 and a quick ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $356.09 million, a PE ratio of 19.59 and a beta of -0.05.

KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 28th. The shipping company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.09). KNOT Offshore Partners had a return on equity of 6.36% and a net margin of 4.92%.The company had revenue of $92.01 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.35 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that KNOT Offshore Partners will post 0.09 earnings per share for the current year.

KNOT Offshore Partners Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Monday, July 27th were paid a dividend of $0.075 per share. This is a positive change from KNOT Offshore Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 27th. This represents a $0.30 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. KNOT Offshore Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 55.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Trygve Seglem bought 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was bought at an average price of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $25,000,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,458,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,166,660. This represents a 600.00% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KNOT Offshore Partners

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Royal Bank of Canada purchased a new position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners by 8.8% during the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,335,435 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $13,461,000 after purchasing an additional 108,400 shares in the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners during the first quarter worth about $259,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in KNOT Offshore Partners during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $643,000. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC bought a new stake in KNOT Offshore Partners during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,294,000. 26.82% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About KNOT Offshore Partners

KNOT Offshore Partners LP is a publicly traded limited partnership formed in 2013 to own and operate shuttle tankers under long‐term charters in the offshore oil industry. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KNOP, the partnership specializes in the transportation of crude oil from offshore production facilities to onshore refineries. Its fleet comprises moderne shuttle tankers equipped with dynamic positioning systems, enabling safe transfer operations in harsh weather and sea conditions.

The partnership’s vessels primarily serve fields in the North Sea, Brazil and West Africa, where they operate under multi‐year contracts with major energy producers.