Kellanova (NYSE:K) Shares Acquired by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,891 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,664,461 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Kellanova during the 2nd quarter worth about $88,065,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Kellanova in the 2nd quarter valued at about $63,585,000. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Kellanova by 117.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,278,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,221,000 after buying an additional 689,395 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 608,989 shares in the last quarter. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kellanova Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:K opened at $80.57 on Friday. Kellanova has a one year low of $51.02 and a one year high of $81.34. The stock has a market cap of $27.77 billion, a PE ratio of 27.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $80.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last released its 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. Kellanova had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 37.05%. The firm had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.03 EPS. Kellanova’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Kellanova will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.35%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on K. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Kellanova from $63.00 to $83.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Argus lowered shares of Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Barclays raised their price objective on Kellanova from $67.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Kellanova in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. 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.com, Kellanova has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $76.35.

Insider Activity

In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,072,264 shares of company stock worth $86,452,375 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

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.