WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) Trading Down 6% on Analyst Downgrade

WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG)’s stock price traded down 6% during trading on Tuesday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $19.00 to $16.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. WK Kellogg traded as low as $16.61 and last traded at $16.53. 669,610 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 913,219 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.58.

KLG has been the subject of several other research reports. TD Cowen lowered WK Kellogg from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WK Kellogg has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at WK Kellogg

In related news, Director G Zachary Gund acquired 65,000 shares of WK Kellogg stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 14th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.76 per share, for a total transaction of $1,154,400.00. Following the purchase, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 199.8% during the 3rd quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 71,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 47,973 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its position in WK Kellogg by 406.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 128,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,202,000 after buying an additional 103,301 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in WK Kellogg by 7.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,112,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,036,000 after buying an additional 79,808 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of WK Kellogg by 191.9% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 49,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $882,000 after acquiring an additional 32,218 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 12,352.1% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,516,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,946,000 after acquiring an additional 1,504,239 shares in the last quarter. 95.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WK Kellogg Trading Down 7.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.41 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a 50 day moving average of $18.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a current ratio of 0.78.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $689.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $674.10 million. WK Kellogg had a return on equity of 33.41% and a net margin of 2.50%. The business’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that WK Kellogg Co will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WK Kellogg Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.92%. WK Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.05%.

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.