Rhumbline Advisers Increases Position in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in Kellanova (NYSE:K - Free Report) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 627,336 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,824 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers owned about 0.18% of Kellanova worth $50,795,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Westchester Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Kellanova in the third quarter valued at about $107,795,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 134.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,363 shares of the company's stock worth $145,309,000 after buying an additional 1,033,383 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Kellanova by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,725,420 shares of the company's stock worth $1,188,489,000 after purchasing an additional 731,273 shares during the period. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP grew its holdings in Kellanova by 63.8% during the third quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 1,624,222 shares of the company's stock valued at $131,091,000 after purchasing an additional 632,510 shares during the period. Finally, Syquant Capital Sas purchased a new stake in Kellanova in the fourth quarter worth about $29,595,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.87% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity 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, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $9,246,848.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 49,107,859 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,963,004,221.30. This represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 1,145,830 shares of company stock valued at $93,291,187 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kellanova Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE K traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $82.63. 2,683,975 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,389,531. Kellanova has a 12-month low of $52.46 and a 12-month high of $82.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $28.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.37. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $81.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.64.

Kellanova (NYSE:K - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.61. Kellanova had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 37.25%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kellanova will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. Kellanova's payout ratio is currently 58.91%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

K has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kellanova in a report on Sunday, February 16th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. BNP Paribas lowered Kellanova from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Kellanova from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $83.50 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $77.96.

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.