Barclays Cuts WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) Price Target to $16.00

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) had its target price lowered by Barclays from $19.00 to $16.00 in a report published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

Separately, TD Cowen lowered WK Kellogg from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $18.14.

WK Kellogg Stock Performance

WK Kellogg stock opened at $15.95 on Friday. WK Kellogg has a 1-year low of $12.32 and a 1-year high of $24.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $18.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.67.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $689.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $674.10 million. WK Kellogg had a net margin of 2.50% and a return on equity of 33.41%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that WK Kellogg will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WK Kellogg Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. WK Kellogg’s payout ratio is currently 82.05%.

Insider Transactions at WK Kellogg

In related news, Director G Zachary Gund acquired 65,000 shares of WK Kellogg stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.76 per share, with a total value of $1,154,400.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 195,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,463,200. This represents a 50.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WK Kellogg

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 12,352.1% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,516,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,504,239 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in WK Kellogg by 579.1% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,403,854 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,107,000 after buying an additional 1,197,133 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in WK Kellogg by 124.5% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 538,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,865,000 after acquiring an additional 298,700 shares during the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC increased its position in shares of WK Kellogg by 563.8% in the third quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 333,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,703,000 after acquiring an additional 283,104 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 31.1% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,124,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,240,000 after acquiring an additional 266,877 shares during the last quarter. 95.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WK Kellogg

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.