Kellanova (NYSE:K) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

Equities research analysts at StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Kellanova from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.50 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.96.

Kellanova Price Performance

Shares of K opened at $82.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $28.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.37. Kellanova has a twelve month low of $52.46 and a twelve month high of $82.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $81.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.08.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.61. Kellanova had a net margin of 10.53% and a return on equity of 37.25%. As a group, analysts predict that Kellanova will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kellanova

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.64, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,145,830 shares of company stock worth $93,461,916. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in K. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kellanova in the fourth quarter valued at $285,126,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Kellanova by 869.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,579,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,826,000 after buying an additional 2,313,047 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in Kellanova by 182.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,388,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $193,356,000 after buying an additional 1,542,000 shares in the last quarter. Westchester Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Kellanova in the third quarter valued at $107,795,000. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its holdings in Kellanova by 134.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,309,000 after buying an additional 1,033,383 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

About Kellanova

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.