Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 313,848 Shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 1,562.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 333,931 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 313,848 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.10% of Kellanova worth $18,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of K. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Kellanova by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 31,697,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,122,486,000 after acquiring an additional 369,648 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Kellanova by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,353,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,892,981,000 after buying an additional 646,828 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Kellanova by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,696,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $947,753,000 after buying an additional 369,620 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kellanova by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,659,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $378,150,000 after buying an additional 159,028 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kellanova by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,559,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $330,841,000 after buying an additional 200,870 shares in the last quarter. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on K shares. Citigroup started coverage on Kellanova in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Kellanova from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Kellanova from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Kellanova in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Kellanova from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kellanova

In other news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.72, for a total transaction of $4,257,216.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 52,931,438 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,896,408,287.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 855,800 shares of company stock worth $46,722,790. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kellanova Stock Performance

Shares of K stock opened at $56.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.66. Kellanova has a fifty-two week low of $47.63 and a fifty-two week high of $72.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $54.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.29. The company has a market capitalization of $19.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.60, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.40.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company posted $0.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. Kellanova’s payout ratio is currently 81.45%.

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.