WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG) Given Average Recommendation of “Strong Sell” by Brokerages

WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG) has earned an average rating of “Strong Sell” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $17.89.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price target on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 17th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of WK Kellogg in a research report on Monday. They set an “underweight” rating and a $18.00 target price on the stock. TD Cowen cut WK Kellogg from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th.

Institutional Trading of WK Kellogg

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 39,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $713,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in WK Kellogg by 49.4% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 181.8% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 980 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares during the period. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WK Kellogg during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. 95.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WK Kellogg Stock Performance

Shares of WK Kellogg stock opened at $18.55 on Wednesday. WK Kellogg has a 52 week low of $15.17 and a 52 week high of $24.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $18.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $18.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.90, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.30.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.14. WK Kellogg had a return on equity of 39.81% and a net margin of 2.66%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that WK Kellogg will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

WK Kellogg Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. This is a positive change from WK Kellogg’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. WK Kellogg’s payout ratio is presently 81.48%.

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.