Alpine Associates Management Inc. Makes New Investment in Kellanova (NYSE:K)

Alpine Associates Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kellanova (NYSE:K) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 316,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,561,000. Kellanova makes up approximately 1.2% of Alpine Associates Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kellanova by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 467 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kellanova in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. CVA Family Office LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kellanova by 529.3% in the 3rd quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kellanova by 61.9% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kellanova by 48.8% in the 3rd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Kellanova from $64.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Kellanova from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $62.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Argus downgraded shares of Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. DA Davidson downgraded shares of Kellanova from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $83.50 in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kellanova from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $76.35.

Kellanova Price Performance

NYSE K opened at $80.50 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $70.29. Kellanova has a 52-week low of $51.02 and a 52-week high of $81.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $27.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Kellanova (NYSE:K) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $3.23 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.16 billion. Kellanova had a net margin of 7.85% and a return on equity of 37.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.03 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Kellanova will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kellanova Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Kellanova’s payout ratio is presently 78.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 114,583 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.25, for a total value of $9,195,285.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 50,482,855 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,051,249,113.75. This represents a 0.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 994,464 shares of company stock valued at $80,203,479. 1.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Kellanova

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.