WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) Stock Price Down 5.7% – Here’s What Happened

WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG) shares were down 5.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $20.26 and last traded at $20.08. Approximately 282,938 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 1,153,280 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KLG shares. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. TD Cowen cut WK Kellogg from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $18.00 to $16.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $16.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $18.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.88.

WK Kellogg Trading Down 7.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.30. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $17.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.74.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28 by $0.14. WK Kellogg had a return on equity of 39.81% and a net margin of 2.66%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that WK Kellogg Co will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WK Kellogg Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.165 per share. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from WK Kellogg’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. WK Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.48%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WK Kellogg

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KLG. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in WK Kellogg by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 4,925,470 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,609,000 after purchasing an additional 52,129 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 149.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,186,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,320,000 after buying an additional 2,510,779 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 172.9% in the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,494,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,883,000 after buying an additional 1,580,704 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in WK Kellogg by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 1,827,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,877,000 after acquiring an additional 17,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in WK Kellogg by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,705,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,682,000 after acquiring an additional 189,092 shares during the period. 95.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WK Kellogg

WK Kellogg Co operates as a food company in the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean. It manufactures, markets, and distributes ready-to-eat cereal products primarily under the Frosted Flakes, Special K, Froot Loops, Raisin Bran, Frosted Mini-Wheats, and Kashi brands. The company was formerly known as North America Cereal Co and changed its name to WK Kellogg Co in March 2023.