Knowles (NYSE:KN) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) reached a new 52-week high on Friday . The company traded as high as $40.98 and last traded at $39.6340, with a volume of 3089 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $39.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Knowles Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 3.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a PE ratio of 62.12 and a beta of 1.60.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 23rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.03. Knowles had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 9.10%.The company 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 business posted $0.18 earnings per share. Knowles’s revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts expect that Knowles Corporation will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Knowles

In other Knowles news, COO Daniel J. Giesecke sold 20,201 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.32, for a total transaction of $753,901.32. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 175,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,562,908.60. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Air A. Jr. Bastarrica sold 3,623 shares of Knowles 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,470,357.79. This trade 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 have sold 173,058 shares of company stock valued at $5,809,156. 2.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Knowles during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,878,000. Aberdeen Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Knowles in the third quarter worth approximately $8,535,000. Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Knowles during the fourth quarter worth approximately $941,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in shares of Knowles by 13.0% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 334,980 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $7,808,000 after purchasing an additional 38,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harvey Partners LLC acquired a new position in Knowles in the 3rd quarter valued at $14,510,000. 96.35% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.