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

Kellanova (NYSE:K) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,820,000 shares, an increase of 28.0% from the December 15th total of 5,330,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,890,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on K shares. Argus lowered Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on Kellanova in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of Kellanova stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.96, for a total value of $9,276,639.68. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 49,795,357 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,031,432,102.72. The trade was a 0.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 1,031,247 shares of company stock valued at $83,509,236 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CVA Family Office LLC lifted its position in shares of Kellanova by 529.3% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kellanova by 61.9% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Kellanova by 48.8% in the third quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its position in shares of Kellanova by 41.4% in the third quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its position in shares of Kellanova by 71.3% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. 83.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kellanova Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE K traded up $0.17 on Friday, reaching $81.73. The company had a trading volume of 2,647,218 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,723,373. Kellanova has a 52 week low of $52.46 and a 52 week high of $81.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $80.95 and its 200-day moving average is $76.41. The stock has a market cap of $28.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.09, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. Kellanova had a return on equity of 37.05% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Kellanova will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.35%.

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.