StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Kellanova (NYSE:K)

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Argus cut Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays increased their target price on Kellanova from $67.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Kellanova from $76.00 to $83.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Kellanova from $63.00 to $83.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $76.00 to $83.50 in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.35.

Kellanova Trading Up 0.3 %

Kellanova stock opened at $80.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $27.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.39. Kellanova has a 12 month low of $51.02 and a 12 month high of $81.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $70.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.06. Kellanova had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 37.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Kellanova will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of Kellanova stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.25, for a total transaction of $9,195,285.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,482,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,051,249,113.75. The trade was a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 994,464 shares of company stock valued at $80,203,479. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kellanova

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in K. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Kellanova by 766.5% in the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,881,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $108,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,664,461 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Kellanova in the 2nd quarter valued at $88,065,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kellanova during the 3rd quarter worth $107,795,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Kellanova during the 2nd quarter worth $63,585,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Kellanova by 134.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,309,000 after buying an additional 1,033,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Kellanova Company Profile

Kellanova, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets snacks and convenience foods in North America, Europe, Latin America, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Australia, and Africa. Its principal products include crackers, crisps, savory snacks, toaster pastries, cereal bars, granola bars and bites, ready-to-eat cereals, frozen waffles, veggie foods, and noodles.