WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) Shares Up 3% – What’s Next?

WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG) traded up 3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $19.05 and last traded at $19.11. 223,280 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 999,378 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on KLG shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price 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. Barclays cut their target price on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on WK Kellogg in a research note on Monday. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of WK Kellogg from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WK Kellogg presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $17.89.

WK Kellogg Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.19.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.14. WK Kellogg had a net margin of 2.66% and a return on equity of 39.81%. Equities analysts anticipate that WK Kellogg Co will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

WK Kellogg Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 28th were issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. This is a boost from WK Kellogg’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. WK Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WK Kellogg

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KLG. Truist Financial Corp raised its position in WK Kellogg by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 39,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 49.4% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 181.8% in the 4th quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 980 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in WK Kellogg by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 37,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $672,000 after buying an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WK Kellogg during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 95.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.