Royal Bank of Canada Upgrades Kellanova (NYSE:K) to Outperform

Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) from a sector perform rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have $76.00 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $62.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays decreased their price target on Kellanova from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Kellanova from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America upgraded Kellanova from a neutral rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Friday. BNP Paribas upgraded Kellanova from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $74.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Kellanova from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kellanova currently has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $66.93.

Kellanova Stock Performance

K stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $73.33. The stock had a trading volume of 7,775,454 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,930,295. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $25.07 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.34. Kellanova has a 52-week low of $47.63 and a 52-week high of $75.40.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.11. Kellanova had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 36.74%. The company had revenue of $3.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.15 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. Kellanova’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kellanova will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Kellanova Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This is an increase from Kellanova’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.11%. Kellanova’s payout ratio is 85.39%.

Insider Transactions at Kellanova

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.01, for a total value of $4,824,378.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 51,608,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,200,264,044.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 778,000 shares of company stock worth $45,509,110 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Kellanova by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 263,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,754,000 after acquiring an additional 24,124 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Kellanova in the 4th quarter valued at $8,178,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 133.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 60,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,404,000 after acquiring an additional 34,800 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co increased its stake in shares of Kellanova by 4.3% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 256,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,705,000 after acquiring an additional 10,676 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Kellanova during the fourth quarter worth about $889,000. 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.