Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Makes New $2.27 Million Investment in WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 126,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,267,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in WK Kellogg by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 20,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 4,125 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in WK Kellogg in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,022,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in WK Kellogg by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 39,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 323,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,821,000 after purchasing an additional 10,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 83,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,395 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.74% of the company’s stock.

WK Kellogg Stock Performance

Shares of KLG opened at $19.84 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $17.51 and a 200 day moving average of $17.77. WK Kellogg Co has a 12 month low of $14.36 and a 12 month high of $24.63.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.14. WK Kellogg had a return on equity of 39.81% and a net margin of 2.66%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WK Kellogg Co will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

WK Kellogg Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.165 dividend. This is an increase from WK Kellogg’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. WK Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.01%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on KLG shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded WK Kellogg from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.88.

WK Kellogg Profile

WK Kellogg Co operates as a food company in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. It manufactures, markets, and distributes ready-to-eat cereal products primarily under the Frosted Flakes, Special K, Froot Loops, Raisin Bran, Frosted Mini-Wheats, and Kashi brands. The company was formerly known as North America Cereal Co and changed its name to WK Kellogg Co in March 2023.