StockNews.com Initiates Coverage on Kellanova (NYSE:K)

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K - Free Report) in a research report sent to investors on Friday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Separately, 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. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $77.96.

Kellanova Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:K traded down $0.04 during trading on Friday, hitting $82.43. The stock had a trading volume of 3,027,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,673,952. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. Kellanova has a 12-month low of $55.01 and a 12-month high of $83.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $81.36.

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Kellanova (NYSE:K - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.61. Kellanova had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 37.25%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Kellanova's payout ratio is 58.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total value of $9,329,347.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,534,944 shares in the company, valued at $3,951,715,140.48. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,260,413 shares of company stock worth $103,473,032. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Kellanova

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Kellanova by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 23,091 shares of the company's stock worth $1,870,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Kellanova by 1.7% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,502 shares of the company's stock worth $690,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its stake in Kellanova by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 3,315 shares of the company's stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, SPC Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Kellanova by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 2,976 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.