WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) Shares Down 8.6% – Here’s What Happened

WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG) fell 8.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $15.94 and last traded at $16.00. 216,692 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 713,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on KLG shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of WK Kellogg from $16.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen downgraded WK Kellogg from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, WK Kellogg presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $18.57.

WK Kellogg Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a PE ratio of 19.99 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.70.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $689.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $674.10 million. WK Kellogg had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 2.50%. The firm’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that WK Kellogg Co will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

WK Kellogg Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. WK Kellogg’s payout ratio is 82.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director G Zachary Gund purchased 65,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.76 per share, for a total transaction of $1,154,400.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 195,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,463,200. This represents a 50.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WK Kellogg

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLG. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in WK Kellogg by 88.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 3,575.4% in the 3rd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 4,362 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 1,724.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 4,431 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of WK Kellogg in the third quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 65.1% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after purchasing an additional 3,471 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.74% of the company’s stock.

WK Kellogg Company Profile

WK Kellogg Co operates as a food company in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. It manufactures, markets, and distributes ready-to-eat cereal products primarily under the Frosted Flakes, Special K, Froot Loops, Raisin Bran, Frosted Mini-Wheats, and Kashi brands. The company was formerly known as North America Cereal Co and changed its name to WK Kellogg Co in March 2023.