WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) Shares Gap Up Following Strong Earnings

WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $16.31, but opened at $17.25. WK Kellogg shares last traded at $17.09, with a volume of 168,453 shares changing hands.

The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.14. WK Kellogg had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 33.41%.

WK Kellogg Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is an increase from WK Kellogg’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. WK Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KLG has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen downgraded WK Kellogg from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.88.

Insider Activity

In other WK Kellogg news, Director G Zachary Gund bought 65,000 shares of WK Kellogg stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.76 per share, for a total transaction of $1,154,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 195,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,463,200. This represents a 50.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WK Kellogg

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KLG. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of WK Kellogg by 158.0% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 33,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $555,000 after acquiring an additional 20,656 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 11.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 38,808 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 3,970 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in WK Kellogg during the third quarter valued at $597,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in WK Kellogg by 88.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in WK Kellogg during the 3rd quarter worth about $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.74% of the company’s stock.

WK Kellogg Trading Down 1.4 %

The company has a market cap of $1.39 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.71.

WK Kellogg Company Profile

WK Kellogg Co operates as a food company in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. It manufactures, markets, and distributes ready-to-eat cereal products primarily under the Frosted Flakes, Special K, Froot Loops, Raisin Bran, Frosted Mini-Wheats, and Kashi brands. The company was formerly known as North America Cereal Co and changed its name to WK Kellogg Co in March 2023.