Kellanova (NYSE:K) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) in a research note released on Sunday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on K. DA Davidson cut Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $83.50 in a report on Monday, August 26th. BNP Paribas downgraded Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Argus cut Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Fifteen 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, Kellanova currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $76.35.

Kellanova Price Performance

Shares of K opened at $80.50 on Friday. Kellanova has a 12 month low of $52.46 and a 12 month high of $81.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $80.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.37. The company has a market cap of $27.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Kellanova’s payout ratio is 78.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kellanova

In other news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $9,246,848.10. Following the sale, the insider now owns 49,107,859 shares in the company, valued at $3,963,004,221.30. The trade was a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 916,664 shares of company stock valued at $74,082,493. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kellanova

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Kellanova by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 373,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,169,000 after acquiring an additional 24,067 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 0.6% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 58,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,715,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its position in Kellanova by 0.6% during the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 81,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,587,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Kellanova in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in Kellanova by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,502 shares of the company’s stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kellanova

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.