Governors Lane LP Increases Stake in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Governors Lane LP lifted its stake in shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 35.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 491,708 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 129,908 shares during the period. Kellanova makes up about 3.1% of Governors Lane LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Governors Lane LP owned about 0.14% of Kellanova worth $39,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Fort Baker Capital Management LP boosted its position in Kellanova by 178.7% during the 4th quarter. Fort Baker Capital Management LP now owns 535,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,358,000 after acquiring an additional 343,315 shares during the last quarter. Eisler Capital Management Ltd. bought a new position in Kellanova in the fourth quarter valued at $3,682,000. Ethic Inc. lifted its position in Kellanova by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 16,320 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,321,000 after buying an additional 1,381 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kellanova during the 4th quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, Caption Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 107.7% in the 4th quarter. Caption Management LLC now owns 3,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,000 after acquiring an additional 47,800 shares in the last quarter. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on K. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Kellanova from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kellanova has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $79.41.

Kellanova Price Performance

Kellanova stock opened at $82.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $28.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $82.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.70. Kellanova has a one year low of $55.96 and a one year high of $83.22.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.01 by ($0.11). Kellanova had a return on equity of 37.25% and a net margin of 10.53%. The company had revenue of $3.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.01 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Kellanova’s payout ratio is presently 57.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.25, for a total value of $9,424,451.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,076,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,954,301,337. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,374,996 shares of company stock worth $113,261,858. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Kellanova Company 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.