Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Increases Position in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 24,129 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 647 shares during the quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $1,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Kellanova by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,990,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,132,485 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Kellanova by 27.4% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,890,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,061,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051,922 shares in the last quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd boosted its position in shares of Kellanova by 738.6% in the 4th quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 420,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,522,000 after purchasing an additional 370,607 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Kellanova by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,607,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,670,000 after acquiring an additional 345,830 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Kellanova by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,116,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,999,000 after acquiring an additional 328,658 shares during the period. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.62, for a total transaction of $4,171,636.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,698,038 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,825,668,797.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last three months, insiders sold 933,600 shares of company stock worth $51,632,748. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on K. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Kellanova from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. DA Davidson began coverage on Kellanova in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kellanova from $53.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on Kellanova from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.27.

Kellanova Price Performance

Shares of Kellanova stock opened at $58.75 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. Kellanova has a twelve month low of $47.63 and a twelve month high of $72.30. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $55.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.19. The firm has a market cap of $20.08 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.40.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.04. Kellanova had a return on equity of 35.17% and a net margin of 6.25%. The firm had revenue of $3.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.94 EPS. Kellanova’s revenue for the quarter was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Kellanova will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.81%. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.45%.

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.