ING Groep NV Raises Stake in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

ING Groep NV increased its stake in Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 22.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 107,100 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,540 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $8,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Kellanova by 1,079.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 120,842 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,753,000 after purchasing an additional 110,596 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kellanova by 18.2% during the third quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 6,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $511,000 after buying an additional 975 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kellanova in the third quarter valued at about $272,000. Simmons Bank purchased a new stake in Kellanova in the third quarter worth about $219,000. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its holdings in Kellanova by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 454,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,691,000 after acquiring an additional 10,639 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on K shares. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Kellanova from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI upgraded Kellanova to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. DA Davidson lowered Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $83.50 in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Bank of America raised shares of Kellanova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Kellanova from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.25, for a total transaction of $9,195,285.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 50,482,855 shares in the company, valued at $4,051,249,113.75. This trade represents a 0.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold a total of 1,072,264 shares of company stock valued at $86,452,375 over the last 90 days. 1.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kellanova Stock Performance

K opened at $80.58 on Friday. Kellanova has a twelve month low of $51.02 and a twelve month high of $81.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.78 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $80.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.75.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $3.23 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.16 billion. Kellanova had a return on equity of 37.05% and a net margin of 7.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. Kellanova’s payout ratio is currently 78.35%.

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.