Kellanova (NYSE:K) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) in a research note released on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $76.00 to $83.50 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Kellanova from $76.00 to $83.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Kellanova from $63.00 to $83.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Kellanova from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Kellanova in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.35.

Kellanova Price Performance

K stock opened at $81.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $80.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. Kellanova has a 12-month low of $51.02 and a 12-month high of $81.34.

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

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio is currently 78.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.21, for a total transaction of $9,305,285.43. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 49,222,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,997,354,514.82. This represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 1,145,830 shares of company stock valued at $92,516,606 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kellanova

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of K. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,725,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,489,000 after purchasing an additional 731,273 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kellanova by 3.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,725,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $541,052,000 after acquiring an additional 196,564 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Kellanova by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,616,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,909,000 after acquiring an additional 277,171 shares during the period. Yacktman Asset Management LP lifted its holdings 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 worth $123,546,000 after acquiring an additional 10,510 shares during the last quarter. Finally, D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kellanova by 766.5% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,881,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,664,461 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

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.