Kellanova (NYSE:K) Trading Up 8.2%

Kellanova (NYSE:K) traded up 8.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $61.89 and last traded at $61.68. 1,636,649 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 48% from the average session volume of 3,131,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $56.98.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on K. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Kellanova from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Kellanova in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kellanova from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Kellanova from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.27.

Kellanova Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $56.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.47. The stock has a market cap of $20.98 billion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.39.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Kellanova had a return on equity of 35.17% and a net margin of 6.25%. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. Kellanova’s payout ratio is 81.45%.

Insider Activity

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.62, for a total value of $4,171,636.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 52,698,038 shares in the company, valued at $2,825,668,797.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 933,600 shares of company stock worth $51,891,044. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kellanova

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in K. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kellanova in the 4th quarter worth about $150,184,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Kellanova by 29.4% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,990,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,132,485 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,130,582 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 27.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,890,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $291,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kellanova during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,939,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Kellanova Company 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.