KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Fearnley Fonds upgraded KNOT Offshore Partners from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of KNOT Offshore Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, KNOT Offshore Partners has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $14.00.

KNOT Offshore Partners Stock Performance

NYSE:KNOP opened at $10.97 on Monday. 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 fifty day moving average of $10.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $369.32 million, a PE ratio of 20.32 and a beta of -0.05. KNOT Offshore Partners has a fifty-two week low of $6.76 and a fifty-two week high of $11.78.

KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 4.92% and a return on equity of 6.36%. The company had revenue of $92.01 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $90.35 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that KNOT Offshore Partners will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Trygve Seglem purchased 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $20.00 per share, for a total transaction of $25,000,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 1,458,333 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,166,660. This trade represents a 600.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KNOP. Royal Bank of Canada purchased a new stake in KNOT Offshore Partners in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,335,435 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $13,461,000 after purchasing an additional 108,400 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners in the 1st quarter valued at about $259,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in KNOT Offshore Partners in the first quarter valued at approximately $643,000. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,294,000. 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.