Kellanova (NYSE:K) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Kellanova (NYSE:K) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,490,000 shares, a growth of 10.8% from the May 31st total of 10,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days. Approximately 4.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Kellanova Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE K traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $56.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 893,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,909,924. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $56.89. The stock has a market cap of $19.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.35. Kellanova has a 52 week low of $47.63 and a 52 week high of $68.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.62 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.16. Kellanova had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 37.07%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.10 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Kellanova will post 3.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a $0.56 dividend. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. Kellanova’s payout ratio is currently 83.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.35, for a total transaction of $4,306,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 51,997,838 shares in the company, valued at $2,878,080,333.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Kellanova news, SVP Nicolas Amaya sold 9,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total transaction of $588,490.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,572,769.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.35, for a total transaction of $4,306,230.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 51,997,838 shares in the company, valued at $2,878,080,333.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 865,600 shares of company stock worth $50,941,428. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kellanova

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 acquiring an additional 1,130,582 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kellanova by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,657,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,323,000 after acquiring an additional 98,294 shares during the last quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Kellanova by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 4,891,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $273,504,000 after acquiring an additional 655,686 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kellanova in the 4th quarter worth about $150,184,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings 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 worth $124,893,000 after buying an additional 9,726 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on K shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Kellanova from $59.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Kellanova from $57.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Kellanova from $67.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Kellanova from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.83.

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.