Kellanova (NYSE:K) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Kellanova (NYSE:K) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,090,000 shares, a decrease of 6.2% from the March 15th total of 13,960,000 shares. Currently, 4.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 3,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.46, for a total value of $4,470,388.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 52,075,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,992,266,159.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 933,600 shares of company stock valued at $51,308,322. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kellanova

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P boosted its holdings in Kellanova by 95.3% in the first quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald Investment Advisor L.P now owns 424,951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,405,000 after purchasing an additional 207,392 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kellanova by 16.7% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 18,121 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in Kellanova by 6.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 34,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,208,000 after purchasing an additional 2,119 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. boosted its holdings in Kellanova by 46.9% in the first quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 8,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,000 after purchasing an additional 2,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in Kellanova by 6.4% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 38,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,494,000 after purchasing an additional 2,313 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

K has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Kellanova in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Kellanova from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Kellanova in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Kellanova from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Kellanova from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.27.

Kellanova Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:K traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.51. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,295,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,183,397. The firm has a market cap of $18.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Kellanova has a 1 year low of $47.63 and a 1 year high of $72.30. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $55.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.00.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.04. Kellanova had a return on equity of 35.17% and a net margin of 6.25%. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Kellanova will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. Kellanova’s payout ratio is 81.45%.

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.