First Trust Advisors LP Sells 284,946 Shares of Kellanova $K

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 36.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 487,843 shares of the company’s stock after selling 284,946 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $38,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of K. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in Kellanova by 27.1% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 22,791 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 4,866 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Kellanova by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,172,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $252,340,000 after purchasing an additional 119,131 shares during the period. PSquared Asset Management AG boosted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. PSquared Asset Management AG now owns 432,481 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,395,000 after buying an additional 82,078 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Kellanova by 69.6% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 947,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,376,000 after buying an additional 388,886 shares during the period. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Kellanova by 4.0% during the second quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 186,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,829,000 after buying an additional 7,100 shares during the last quarter. 83.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on K. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of Kellanova in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.50 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded Kellanova from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Kellanova from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.50.

Kellanova Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:K opened at $83.47 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $83.14 and a 200 day moving average of $81.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $29.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.93, a P/E/G ratio of 11.61 and a beta of 0.23. Kellanova has a 12 month low of $76.48 and a 12 month high of $83.65.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $3.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.25 billion. Kellanova had a net margin of 10.08% and a return on equity of 31.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kellanova will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. Kellanova’s payout ratio is presently 63.74%.

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.