Mengis Capital Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Mengis Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,116 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kellanova were worth $252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,725,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,188,489,000 after purchasing an additional 731,273 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,725,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $541,052,000 after purchasing an additional 196,564 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 134.7% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,800,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $145,309,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033,383 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,630,609 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,606,000 after purchasing an additional 35,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Kellanova by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 1,624,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,091,000 after purchasing an additional 632,510 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

K has been the subject of several analyst reports. BNP Paribas lowered Kellanova from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $83.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com started coverage on Kellanova in a research note on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Kellanova from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.50 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.96.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.25, for a total transaction of $9,424,451.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,076,612 shares in the company, valued at $3,954,301,337. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 1,145,830 shares of company stock worth $93,291,187 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Kellanova Price Performance

Shares of K opened at $82.71 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $81.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $80.83. The company has a market capitalization of $28.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.37, a P/E/G ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.81. Kellanova has a fifty-two week low of $52.46 and a fifty-two week high of $82.75.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.61. Kellanova had a return on equity of 37.25% and a net margin of 10.53%. Research analysts predict that Kellanova will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Kellanova’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.91%.

Kellanova 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.