StockNews.com Downgrades KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) to Hold

StockNews.com downgraded shares of KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Tuesday morning.

KNOT Offshore Partners Price Performance

Shares of KNOP opened at $6.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $223.34 million, a PE ratio of -8.63 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.76. KNOT Offshore Partners has a fifty-two week low of $4.94 and a fifty-two week high of $9.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $6.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.61.

KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shipping company reported ($0.38) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.25). KNOT Offshore Partners had a net margin of 0.66% and a return on equity of 2.84%. The firm had revenue of $74.42 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $69.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Analysts anticipate that KNOT Offshore Partners will post 0.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KNOT Offshore Partners Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.026 per share. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 28th. KNOT Offshore Partners’s payout ratio is -13.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KNOT Offshore Partners

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners by 297.5% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 116,623 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 87,283 shares during the last quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a new position in KNOT Offshore Partners during the second quarter valued at approximately $229,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in KNOT Offshore Partners during the first quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in KNOT Offshore Partners by 3.2% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,311,017 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $11,498,000 after purchasing an additional 41,100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 26.82% of the company’s stock.

About KNOT Offshore Partners

KNOT Offshore Partners LP acquires, owns, and operates shuttle tankers under long-term charters in the North Sea and Brazil. The company provides loading, transportation, and discharge of crude oil under time charters and bareboat charters. The company was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Aberdeen, the United Kingdom.