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

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on K. BNP Paribas cut shares of Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson downgraded Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $83.50 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Argus downgraded Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.35.

Kellanova Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of K stock opened at $80.82 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.77. Kellanova has a fifty-two week low of $52.46 and a fifty-two week high of $81.34. The company has a market cap of $27.86 billion, a PE ratio of 27.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.61.

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

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio is presently 78.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.57, for a total transaction of $9,231,952.31. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,024,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,030,475,818.11. This represents a 0.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,031,247 shares of company stock valued at $83,322,466. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kellanova

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kellanova by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 373,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,169,000 after buying an additional 24,067 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its position in shares of Kellanova by 0.6% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 58,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,715,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 0.6% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 81,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,587,000 after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Kellanova in the third quarter valued at $210,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kellanova by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.