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

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

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on K. BNP Paribas cut Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Argus cut shares of Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.35.

Kellanova Stock Performance

Kellanova stock opened at $81.34 on Tuesday. Kellanova has a fifty-two week low of $52.46 and a fifty-two week high of $81.39. 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 company has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.33.

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

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.28, for a total value of $9,313,306.24. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 48,649,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,954,233,554.56. This represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 1,031,247 shares of company stock valued at $83,418,716 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kellanova

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nordea Investment Management AB grew 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 worth $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 11,561 shares during the period. General Partner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kellanova during the 4th quarter valued at $145,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Kellanova by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 626 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kellanova by 6.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by 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.