Kellanova (NYSE:K) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

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

Separately, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Kellanova from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $77.96.

Kellanova Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE K opened at $82.25 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.31. Kellanova has a fifty-two week low of $55.01 and a fifty-two week high of $83.22.

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

Insider Activity

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total value of $9,329,347.86. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 48,534,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,951,715,140.48. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 1,260,413 shares of company stock valued at $103,473,032 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kellanova

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in K. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Kellanova by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,435,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,626,322,000 after acquiring an additional 281,137 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 5.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,725,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,188,489,000 after purchasing an additional 731,273 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,884,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $556,014,000 after purchasing an additional 158,560 shares during the period. Pentwater Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Kellanova by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Pentwater Capital Management LP now owns 5,755,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,982,000 after buying an additional 450,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kellanova by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,168,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,489,000 after buying an additional 111,396 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.