Private Management Group Inc. Sells 189,462 Shares of WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG)

Private Management Group Inc. lessened its stake in WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG - Free Report) by 37.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 323,024 shares of the company's stock after selling 189,462 shares during the quarter. Private Management Group Inc. owned 0.38% of WK Kellogg worth $5,811,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in WK Kellogg by 12,352.1% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,516,417 shares of the company's stock worth $25,946,000 after buying an additional 1,504,239 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in WK Kellogg by 2.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,507,713 shares of the company's stock worth $25,802,000 after purchasing an additional 38,939 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in WK Kellogg by 31.1% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,124,503 shares of the company's stock worth $19,240,000 after purchasing an additional 266,877 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in WK Kellogg by 7.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,112,558 shares of the company's stock worth $19,036,000 after purchasing an additional 79,808 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of WK Kellogg by 72.3% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 542,570 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,283,000 after acquiring an additional 227,730 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.74% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director G Zachary Gund bought 65,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.76 per share, for a total transaction of $1,154,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 195,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,463,200. This represents a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

WK Kellogg Stock Performance

KLG traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $16.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 946,315 shares, compared to its average volume of 992,326. WK Kellogg Co has a fifty-two week low of $12.34 and a fifty-two week high of $24.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.71. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $689.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $674.10 million. WK Kellogg had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 2.50%. The company's revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WK Kellogg Co will post 1.48 EPS for the current year.

WK Kellogg Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a boost from WK Kellogg's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. WK Kellogg's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KLG shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded WK Kellogg from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $17.88.

About WK Kellogg

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.