Teza Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN)

Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Knowles Co. (NYSE:KN) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 11,400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $227,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KN. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Knowles during the 4th quarter valued at about $16,297,000. Rhumbline Advisers lifted its holdings in Knowles by 1.9% in the fourth 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. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in Knowles by 340.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 145,401 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $2,622,000 after buying an additional 112,354 shares during the period. Mariner LLC boosted its stake in Knowles by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,704 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 2,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Knowles by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 32,445 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $647,000 after acquiring an additional 5,825 shares during the period. 96.35% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Knowles news, SVP Raymond D. Cabrera sold 5,545 shares of Knowles stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.25, for a total value of $95,651.25. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 111,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,919,683.50. The trade was a 4.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 2.54% of the company’s stock.

Knowles Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:KN opened at $16.81 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $15.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of -6.34 and a beta of 1.40. Knowles Co. has a 52 week low of $12.19 and a 52 week high of $20.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.83.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The communications equipment provider reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18. Knowles had a negative net margin of 34.66% and a positive return on equity of 5.52%. The business had revenue of $132.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $128.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .8% on a year-over-year basis.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Craig Hallum upgraded Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $17.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com lowered Knowles from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Knowles from $18.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th.

Knowles 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).