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

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) in a report published on Tuesday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

K has been the subject of a number of other reports. BNP Paribas downgraded Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Argus downgraded shares of Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.35.

Kellanova Stock Performance

Shares of K opened at $81.34 on Tuesday. Kellanova has a 52 week low of $52.46 and a 52 week high of $81.39. The stock has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.95, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.33. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.77 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Kellanova had a return on equity of 37.05% and a net margin of 7.85%. The firm’s revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.35%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.96, for a total value of $9,276,639.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 49,795,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,031,432,102.72. This represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,031,247 shares of company stock worth $83,418,716. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in K. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Kellanova by 52.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 33,434 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 11,561 shares during the last quarter. General Partner Inc. purchased a new stake in Kellanova during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $145,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kellanova by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 626 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kellanova by 6.9% during the third 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. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Kellanova by 0.6% during the 3rd 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. 83.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.