HM Payson & Co. Sells 1,040 Shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K)

HM Payson & Co. trimmed its stake in Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 22.0% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,694 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,040 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kellanova by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,150,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,797,525,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130,582 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kellanova by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,657,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $316,323,000 after purchasing an additional 98,294 shares during the last quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. increased its holdings in Kellanova by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 4,891,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,504,000 after purchasing an additional 655,686 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kellanova in the 4th quarter worth about $150,184,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Kellanova by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,233,907 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,893,000 after buying an additional 9,726 shares during the last quarter. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on K. BNP Paribas upgraded Kellanova from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $74.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen increased their price target on Kellanova from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Barclays cut their price target on Kellanova from $64.00 to $61.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 19th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Kellanova from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised Kellanova from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $62.00 to $76.00 in a research note on Monday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $65.14.

Insider Transactions at Kellanova

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.31, for a total value of $4,847,718.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 51,686,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,220,594,413.78. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 855,800 shares of company stock worth $50,248,686 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Kellanova Trading Up 13.2 %

Shares of K traded up $8.31 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $71.29. The company had a trading volume of 9,228,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,849,653. The firm has a market cap of $24.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $58.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.46. Kellanova has a 52-week low of $47.63 and a 52-week high of $75.23.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.11. Kellanova had a return on equity of 36.74% and a net margin of 6.72%. The business had revenue of $3.19 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.25 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Kellanova will post 3.68 EPS for the current year.

Kellanova Increases Dividend

The business 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 a positive change from Kellanova’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.56. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.20%. Kellanova’s payout ratio is currently 85.39%.

Kellanova Profile

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.