Knowles Corporation $KN Position Decreased by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC reduced its holdings in Knowles Corporation (NYSE:KN) by 25.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 72,400 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after selling 24,974 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.08% of Knowles worth $1,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KN. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Knowles by 3.3% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 809,015 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $20,776,000 after buying an additional 25,778 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP increased its holdings in shares of Knowles by 10.9% in the first quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 34,485 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $886,000 after buying an additional 3,396 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in shares of Knowles by 34.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 639,468 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $16,422,000 after acquiring an additional 162,092 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming lifted its position in shares of Knowles by 214.6% during the 1st quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 23,245 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 15,857 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Knowles by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 42,444 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $1,090,000 after acquiring an additional 8,121 shares in the last quarter. 96.35% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Knowles Stock Performance

Shares of Knowles stock opened at $38.56 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $3.29 billion, a PE ratio of 50.08 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.75, a current ratio of 3.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Knowles Corporation has a 12 month low of $19.84 and a 12 month high of $42.93.

Knowles (NYSE:KN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 23rd. The communications equipment provider reported $0.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $166.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.97 million. Knowles had a return on equity of 11.45% and a net margin of 10.63%.Knowles’s quarterly revenue was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. Knowles has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.340-0.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Knowles Corporation will post 1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Knowles

In other news, COO Daniel J. Giesecke sold 20,201 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.32, for a total value of $753,901.32. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 175,855 shares in the company, valued at $6,562,908.60. This represents a 10.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Raymond D. Cabrera sold 6,178 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.28, for a total transaction of $224,137.84. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 127,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,641,844.60. This trade represents a 4.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 2.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KN. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Knowles from $33.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Craig Hallum reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Knowles in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised Knowles from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Knowles from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Knowles in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.67.

Knowles Profile

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.