Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 777 Shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,764 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $2,167,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 23,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in Kellanova by 20.2% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Kellanova by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 3,315 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc. increased its stake in Kellanova by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 2,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in Kellanova by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 22,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,820,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kellanova

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.03, for a total value of $9,399,243.49. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 47,274,531 shares in the company, valued at $3,877,929,777.93. This represents a 0.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,260,413 shares of company stock worth $103,839,698. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on K. StockNews.com cut shares of Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Kellanova from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kellanova currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $79.41.

Kellanova Price Performance

Shares of Kellanova stock opened at $82.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.30. Kellanova has a 1-year low of $55.96 and a 1-year high of $83.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $82.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.71.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.01 by ($0.11). Kellanova had a return on equity of 37.25% and a net margin of 10.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.01 earnings per share. Kellanova’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Kellanova will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Kellanova’s payout ratio is 57.58%.

Kellanova 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.