TD Cowen Initiates Coverage on Kellogg (NYSE:K)

TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Kellogg (NYSE:K) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage issued a market perform rating and a $63.00 target price on the stock.

K has been the topic of several other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Kellogg from a neutral rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $78.00 to $83.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Kellogg from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Kellogg from $73.00 to $68.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Kellogg from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $62.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 22nd. Finally, 22nd Century Group reissued an upgrade rating on shares of Kellogg in a report on Tuesday, June 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $69.86.

Kellogg Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE K opened at $59.96 on Wednesday. Kellogg has a 12 month low of $58.81 and a 12 month high of $77.17. The stock has a market cap of $20.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $63.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20.

Kellogg (NYSE:K) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The company reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by $0.14. Kellogg had a return on equity of 33.33% and a net margin of 5.46%. The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kellogg will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kellogg Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 1st were paid a $0.60 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 31st. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. This is an increase from Kellogg’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.59. Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 96.00%.

Insider Transactions at Kellogg

In other news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.10, for a total value of $6,710,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 54,631,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,665,796,329.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of Kellogg stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.42, for a total transaction of $4,622,876.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 54,254,038 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,223,774,937.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 100,000 shares of Kellogg stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.10, for a total value of $6,710,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 54,631,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,665,796,329.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 655,600 shares of company stock valued at $41,811,424 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kellogg

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in Kellogg by 68.8% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 528,022 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,356,000 after buying an additional 215,260 shares in the last quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Kellogg by 26.8% during the 1st quarter. ICA Group Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in Kellogg by 130.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 7,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 4,386 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Kellogg by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 30,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,018,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co purchased a new position in Kellogg during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,625,000. Institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

About Kellogg

Kellogg Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets snacks and convenience foods. The company operates through four segments: North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Middle East 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.