Kellanova (NYSE:K) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Kellanova from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating and boosted their price target for the company from $76.00 to $83.50 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays upped their target price on Kellanova from $67.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. DA Davidson downgraded Kellanova from a buy rating to a neutral rating and lifted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $83.50 in a report on Monday, August 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Kellanova in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a neutral rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Kellanova from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kellanova has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $74.32.

Kellanova Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:K opened at $80.76 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $74.25 and its 200 day moving average is $63.74. The stock has a market cap of $27.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.39. Kellanova has a 52-week low of $47.63 and a 52-week high of $80.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. Kellanova had a return on equity of 36.74% and a net margin of 6.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.25 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Kellanova will post 3.7 EPS for the current year.

Kellanova Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 13th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This is a boost from Kellanova’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 85.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kellanova

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.14, for a total value of $4,367,692.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 51,142,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,871,114,013.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of Kellanova stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.68, for a total transaction of $9,244,556.44. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 50,253,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,054,467,628.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.14, for a total transaction of $4,367,692.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 51,142,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,871,114,013.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 966,149 shares of company stock worth $69,866,455. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Kellanova by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,150,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,797,525,000 after acquiring an additional 1,130,582 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 11.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,616,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,909,000 after purchasing an additional 277,171 shares in the last quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Kellanova by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Yacktman Asset Management LP now owns 2,141,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $123,546,000 after purchasing an additional 10,510 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Kellanova by 766.5% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,881,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,532,000 after buying an additional 1,664,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maverick Capital Ltd. acquired a new stake in Kellanova during the second quarter valued at $88,065,000. 83.87% of the stock is currently 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.