Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Cuts Position in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lessened its stake in Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 22.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 400,869 shares of the company’s stock after selling 114,238 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $27,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 157,032 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,584,000 after purchasing an additional 5,578 shares in the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Kellanova 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 acquiring an additional 215,260 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. purchased a new position in Kellanova during the 2nd quarter valued at about $257,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Kellanova by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 69,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,653,000 after acquiring an additional 5,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Kellanova 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 acquiring an additional 2,125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

K has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Kellanova from $73.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Barclays upgraded shares of Kellanova from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $57.00 to $55.00 in a report on Thursday, November 9th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Kellanova in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $63.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Kellanova from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $55.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Kellanova from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.71.

Kellanova Price Performance

K opened at $52.56 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $54.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $62.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.76. Kellanova has a 1 year low of $47.63 and a 1 year high of $74.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.91 million, a PE ratio of 22.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.42.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 8th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.12. Kellanova had a net margin of 5.21% and a return on equity of 34.38%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.01 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kellanova will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

Kellanova Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Investors of record on Friday, December 1st will be given a $0.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 30th. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.84%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.87, for a total value of $4,035,486.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 53,631,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,781,873,063.06. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Kellanova news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 100,000 shares of Kellanova stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.10, for a total transaction of $6,110,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 54,331,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,319,675,301.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 77,800 shares of Kellanova stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.87, for a total transaction of $4,035,486.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 53,631,638 shares in the company, valued at $2,781,873,063.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 800,200 shares of company stock valued at $44,259,230. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

About Kellanova

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