Knowles (NYSE:KN) Hits New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $37.85 and last traded at $37.64, with a volume of 47549 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $36.66.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Knowles from $30.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Knowles in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Knowles in a report on Friday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Knowles has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.33.

Knowles Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 3.27 and a quick ratio of 1.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.24. The stock has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 58.74 and a beta of 1.56.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.03. Knowles had a net margin of 9.10% and a return on equity of 10.66%. The firm had revenue of $153.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $147.40 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.18 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 15.8% on a year-over-year basis. Knowles has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.280-0.320 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Knowles Corporation will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Jeffrey Niew sold 142,857 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.25, for a total value of $4,749,995.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 883,719 shares in the company, valued at $29,383,656.75. This represents a 13.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 3,623 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.91, for a total transaction of $111,986.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 47,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,470,357.79. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 152,857 shares of company stock valued at $5,055,254. 2.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Knowles

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KN. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Knowles by 365.4% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,394,341 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $32,502,000 after purchasing an additional 1,094,715 shares during the last quarter. Harvey Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Knowles in the third quarter valued at about $14,510,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Knowles by 10.5% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Knowles by 52.8% in the third quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,360,918 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $31,723,000 after purchasing an additional 470,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in Knowles by 95.9% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 958,387 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $22,340,000 after buying an additional 469,286 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.