Kellanova (NYSE:K) Now Covered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K - Free Report) in a report published on Sunday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

K has been the topic of several other reports. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Kellanova from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $83.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, November 1st. DA Davidson cut Kellanova from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $80.00 to $83.50 in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Argus downgraded Kellanova from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $76.35.

Kellanova Price Performance

Shares of K traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $80.50. 5,307,172 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,945,288. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $80.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.37. Kellanova has a 12-month low of $52.46 and a 12-month high of $81.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $27.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.38.

Kellanova (NYSE:K - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.06. Kellanova had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 37.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. Kellanova's quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. Kellanova's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.35%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kellanova

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.70, for a total transaction of $9,246,848.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 49,107,859 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,963,004,221.30. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,031,247 shares of company stock valued at $83,327,049. Insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Kellanova

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Kellanova by 766.5% in the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,881,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $108,532,000 after buying an additional 1,664,461 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Kellanova in the second quarter valued at approximately $88,065,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Kellanova during the third quarter worth approximately $107,795,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in Kellanova during the second quarter worth approximately $63,585,000. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Kellanova by 134.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $145,309,000 after buying an additional 1,033,383 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.87% of the company's stock.

About Kellanova

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.