Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Kellanova $K

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 18.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,036 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kellanova by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,695,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,697,039,000 after buying an additional 259,604 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in Kellanova by 0.7% in the first quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 19,718,498 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,626,579,000 after buying an additional 128,439 shares during the last quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 39.0% in the first quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 8,000,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $659,920,000 after purchasing an additional 2,245,000 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 3.0% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,015,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,243,000 after purchasing an additional 117,650 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 11.0% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,953,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,617,000 after purchasing an additional 292,063 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Kellanova Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of K stock opened at $82.94 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $80.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $80.79. Kellanova has a 1-year low of $76.48 and a 1-year high of $83.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.83 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.15 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by ($0.05). Kellanova had a return on equity of 32.54% and a net margin of 10.56%.The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.19 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kellanova will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This is a boost from Kellanova’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.89%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on K. Weiss Ratings raised Kellanova from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Kellanova in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.50 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Kellanova from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, September 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.55, for a total value of $9,116,350.45. Following the sale, the insider owned 45,097,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,587,501,192.90. This represents a 0.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 572,931 shares of company stock valued at $45,755,411 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.