WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG) shares gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $16.84, but opened at $18.38. WK Kellogg shares last traded at $18.75, with a volume of 345,856 shares traded.

The company reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $689.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $674.10 million. WK Kellogg had a net margin of 4.45% and a return on equity of 42.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 EPS.

WK Kellogg Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. WK Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 45.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on KLG. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of WK Kellogg from $22.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on WK Kellogg from $22.00 to $17.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WK Kellogg has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KLG. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in WK Kellogg by 88.6% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,890 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 888 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WK Kellogg in the first quarter valued at $42,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in WK Kellogg during the second quarter valued at about $46,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in WK Kellogg by 3,575.4% during the third quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after acquiring an additional 4,362 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in WK Kellogg by 1,724.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after acquiring an additional 4,431 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.74% of the company’s stock.

WK Kellogg Trading Down 8.1 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion and a P/E ratio of 12.89. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $17.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.19.

About WK Kellogg

WK Kellogg Co operates as a food company in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. It manufactures, markets, and distributes ready-to-eat cereal products primarily under the Frosted Flakes, Special K, Froot Loops, Raisin Bran, Frosted Mini-Wheats, and Kashi brands. The company was formerly known as North America Cereal Co and changed its name to WK Kellogg Co in March 2023.