Van ECK Associates Corp Trims Position in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its position in shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 44.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,728,164 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,162,788 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $152,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in K. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kellanova by 491.3% during the third quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 473 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its stake in shares of Kellanova by 205.4% during the third quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 507 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 341 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kellanova by 55.1% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 580 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in shares of Kellanova by 339.9% during the fourth quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,201 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,000 after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the period. Finally, Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd grew its position in Kellanova by 1,450.0% during the third quarter. Stonehage Fleming Financial Services Holdings Ltd now owns 1,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares during the period. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kellanova

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.67, for a total value of $4,175,526.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,620,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,824,128,173.46. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 933,600 shares of company stock valued at $51,891,044 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on K shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kellanova from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of Kellanova in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Kellanova from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Kellanova in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Kellanova from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kellanova has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.27.

Kellanova Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE K traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $58.02. 976,473 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,074,142. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $56.02 and its 200 day moving average is $54.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.40. Kellanova has a one year low of $47.63 and a one year high of $72.30.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.07 billion. Kellanova had a net margin of 6.25% and a return on equity of 35.17%. Kellanova’s quarterly revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.94 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 3rd. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.45%.

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.