First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Purchases 408 Shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its position in Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 12,407 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 408 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Kellanova by 3.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,559,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $330,841,000 after buying an additional 200,870 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 29.4% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,990,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,485 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Kellanova by 27.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,890,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051,922 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Kellanova by 8.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,116,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,999,000 after purchasing an additional 328,658 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Kellanova by 2.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,474,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,273,000 after purchasing an additional 61,797 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

K has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kellanova from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Kellanova in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their target price on Kellanova from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Kellanova in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Kellanova from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kellanova presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.67.

Kellanova Stock Performance

Kellanova stock opened at $60.51 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $56.23 and a 200-day moving average of $54.59. The company has a market capitalization of $20.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.39. Kellanova has a 1 year low of $47.63 and a 1 year high of $71.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Kellanova had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 37.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kellanova will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kellanova

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.62, for a total transaction of $4,171,636.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 52,698,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,825,668,797.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 933,600 shares of company stock valued at $51,891,044. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kellanova Profile

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.