KNOT Offshore Partners LP Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.03 (NYSE:KNOP)

KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE:KNOP) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, April 29th will be paid a dividend of 0.026 per share by the shipping company on Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $0.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 26th.

KNOT Offshore Partners has decreased its dividend by an average of 63.2% annually over the last three years. KNOT Offshore Partners has a payout ratio of 250.0% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect KNOT Offshore Partners to earn $0.03 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $0.10 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 333.3%.

KNOT Offshore Partners Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KNOP traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $4.98. The company had a trading volume of 66,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 72,917. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $5.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.69. KNOT Offshore Partners has a one year low of $4.28 and a one year high of $7.00.

KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 26th. The shipping company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by ($0.23). The company had revenue of $73.03 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.96 million. KNOT Offshore Partners had a positive return on equity of 2.86% and a negative net margin of 11.81%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KNOT Offshore Partners will post -0.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KNOT Offshore Partners

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners by 275.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 48,816 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 35,824 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $285,000. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners during the third quarter valued at $182,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners by 17.2% during the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 11,810 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of KNOT Offshore Partners during the fourth quarter valued at $163,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 26.82% of the company’s stock.

About KNOT Offshore Partners

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