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

Kellanova (NYSE:K) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,820,000 shares, an increase of 28.0% from the December 15th total of 5,330,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.6 days.

Insider Transactions at Kellanova

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total value of $9,239,973.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 48,878,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,941,577,803.52. The trade was a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,031,247 shares of company stock worth $83,509,236. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kellanova

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in K. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Kellanova by 766.5% during the 2nd quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,881,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,532,000 after buying an additional 1,664,461 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Kellanova in the second quarter worth approximately $88,065,000. Westchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kellanova in the third quarter worth approximately $107,795,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Kellanova in the second quarter worth approximately $63,585,000. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,033,383 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

K has been the topic of several analyst reports. Argus lowered shares of Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Kellanova in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.35.

Kellanova Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE K traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, reaching $81.73. The company had a trading volume of 2,647,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,373. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $80.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.41. Kellanova has a 12 month low of $52.46 and a 12 month high of $81.79. The stock has a market cap of $28.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. Kellanova had a return on equity of 37.05% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Kellanova’s payout ratio is 78.35%.

Kellanova Company 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.