Empowered Funds LLC Reduces Position in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Empowered Funds LLC lowered its position in Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,364 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,701 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $1,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 766.5% during the second quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,881,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $108,532,000 after buying an additional 1,664,461 shares during the last quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Kellanova in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $88,065,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Kellanova in the second quarter valued at approximately $63,585,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Kellanova by 117.1% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,278,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,221,000 after purchasing an additional 689,395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 130.1% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,077,018 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,122,000 after purchasing an additional 608,989 shares during the period. 83.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Kellanova

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,109,047 shares of company stock worth $89,483,556. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

K has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Kellanova to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Kellanova from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kellanova from $76.00 to $83.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Kellanova from $67.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $76.00 to $83.50 in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Fifteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.35.

Kellanova Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE K opened at $80.96 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $80.76 and a 200-day moving average of $70.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Kellanova has a 12 month low of $51.02 and a 12 month high of $81.34. The company has a market cap of $27.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.