Shares of KNOT Offshore Partners (NYSE:KNOP) collapsed today after announcing a major dividend cut that’ll see the payout drop from $0.52 to $0.026 per share. This equates to a 95% decrease and a new dividend yield for KNOP of roughly 0.4% at the time of writing.
Management attributed the cut to the lack of forward visibility and a reduction in vessel utilization rates. This has led analyst Poe Fratt to shift to a Sell rating while assigning a price target of $6. In addition, Fratt cited above-average financial leverage and refinancing as risks to watch out for on top of its operational challenges.
KNOP stock investors have had a turbulent time in the past three months. Long-time shareholders have sat through two major declines that saw the price fall from almost $16 per share to over $6 per share.
