WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.88.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target 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. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of WK Kellogg from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th.

WK Kellogg Stock Performance

NYSE:KLG opened at $19.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $17.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.51, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.70. WK Kellogg has a 1-year low of $14.37 and a 1-year high of $24.63.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.28 by $0.14. WK Kellogg had a net margin of 2.66% and a return on equity of 39.81%. On average, research analysts expect that WK Kellogg will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WK Kellogg Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. This is a boost from WK Kellogg’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. WK Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WK Kellogg

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KLG. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in WK Kellogg by 149.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,186,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510,779 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 172.9% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,494,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,883,000 after buying an additional 1,580,704 shares during the period. 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 valued at $25,946,000 after buying an additional 1,504,239 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of WK Kellogg during the 4th quarter valued at $14,737,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 572.9% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 798,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,366,000 after buying an additional 679,888 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.74% of the company’s stock.

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.