WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $16.84, but opened at $18.38. WK Kellogg shares last traded at $18.75, with a volume of 345,856 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on WK Kellogg from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Barclays decreased their target price on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Bank of America cut WK Kellogg from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $24.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on WK Kellogg from $22.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WK Kellogg currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.50.

WK Kellogg Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion and a PE ratio of 13.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $17.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.06). WK Kellogg had a return on equity of 42.12% and a net margin of 4.45%. The company had revenue of $672.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $671.50 million. WK Kellogg’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that WK Kellogg Co will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

WK Kellogg Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. WK Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio is currently 45.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WK Kellogg

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in shares of WK Kellogg during the second quarter valued at $577,000. Abundance Wealth Counselors bought a new position in shares of WK Kellogg during the second quarter valued at $613,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 1,876.1% during the first quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 531,108 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,985,000 after purchasing an additional 504,232 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of WK Kellogg during the third quarter valued at $818,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 64,642.1% during the second quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 73,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 73,692 shares in the last quarter. 95.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

WK Kellogg Company Profile

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.