WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) Now Covered by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) in a research report report published on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an underweight rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen cut shares of WK Kellogg from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their target price 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 dropped their price target on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $17.89.

WK Kellogg Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KLG opened at $19.08 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.74. WK Kellogg has a 52 week low of $15.17 and a 52 week high of $24.63. The firm has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.30.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts expect that WK Kellogg will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WK Kellogg Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. This is a positive change from WK Kellogg’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. WK Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WK Kellogg

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KLG. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in shares of WK Kellogg during the 4th quarter worth about $14,737,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new stake in WK Kellogg in the fourth quarter valued at about $454,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in WK Kellogg in the fourth quarter worth about $1,994,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new position in WK Kellogg during the fourth quarter worth about $1,051,000. Finally, Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in WK Kellogg during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $198,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.74% of the company’s stock.

About WK Kellogg

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.