KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $14.00.

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 28th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Fearnley Fonds raised shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Trygve Seglem acquired 1,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $20.00 per share, with a total value of $25,000,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 1,458,333 shares in the company, valued at $29,166,660. This represents a 600.00% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KNOP. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in the 1st quarter worth approximately $130,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners by 115.0% during the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,042 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 4,836 shares in the last quarter. Occudo Quantitative Strategies LP bought a new position in KNOT Offshore Partners during the second quarter worth $68,000. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in KNOT Offshore Partners by 220.3% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 16,557 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 11,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV acquired a new position in KNOT Offshore Partners in the fourth quarter worth $205,000. Institutional investors own 26.82% of the company’s stock.

KNOT Offshore Partners Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of KNOP opened at $10.49 on Tuesday. KNOT Offshore Partners has a one year low of $6.76 and a one year high of $11.78. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $10.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $10.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a current ratio of 0.25. The company has a market capitalization of $353.16 million, a P/E ratio of 19.43 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 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $92.01 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $90.35 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that KNOT Offshore Partners will post 0.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KNOT Offshore Partners Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 27th will be given a dividend of $0.075 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 27th. This is a positive change from KNOT Offshore Partners’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.05. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. KNOT Offshore Partners’s dividend payout ratio is 37.04%.

KNOT Offshore Partners Company Profile

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.