WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) Trading Down 5.7% – Time to Sell?

Shares of WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG) 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 were traded during trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 1,153,280 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.29.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

WK Kellogg Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.09. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.30.

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

WK Kellogg Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be issued a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.28%. This is an increase from WK Kellogg’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. WK Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 81.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH bought a new position in WK Kellogg in the 4th quarter valued at $454,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of WK Kellogg during the 4th quarter worth $1,994,000. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of WK Kellogg during the 4th quarter worth $1,051,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of WK Kellogg during the 4th quarter worth $198,000. Finally, Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. lifted its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 35.1% during the 4th quarter. Patrick Mauro Investment Advisor INC. now owns 63,798 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,148,000 after acquiring an additional 16,563 shares during the last quarter. 95.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

WK Kellogg Company Profile

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.