KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

KNOP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Zacks Research raised KNOT Offshore Partners from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.00.

KNOT Offshore Partners Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE KNOP opened at $10.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $364.54 million, a P/E ratio of 20.06 and a beta of -0.05. KNOT Offshore Partners has a 52-week low of $7.65 and a 52-week high of $11.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $10.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 0.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

KNOT Offshore Partners Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other KNOT Offshore Partners news, Director Trygve Seglem purchased 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 1,458,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,166,660. This trade represents a 600.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Royal Bank of Canada purchased a new stake in KNOT Offshore Partners in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in KNOT Offshore Partners by 115.0% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,042 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 4,836 shares in the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP acquired a new position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in the second quarter worth $68,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners by 220.3% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 16,557 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 11,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in the fourth quarter valued at $125,000. 26.82% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.