Factorial Partners LLC Sells 70,000 Shares of WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG)

Factorial Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of WK Kellogg Co (NYSE:KLG) by 23.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 230,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 70,000 shares during the period. WK Kellogg comprises 2.4% of Factorial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Factorial Partners LLC’s holdings in WK Kellogg were worth $4,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KLG. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in WK Kellogg by 12,352.1% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,516,417 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,946,000 after buying an additional 1,504,239 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 563.8% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 333,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,703,000 after acquiring an additional 283,104 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in WK Kellogg by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,124,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,240,000 after acquiring an additional 266,877 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in WK Kellogg by 72.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 542,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,283,000 after acquiring an additional 227,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in WK Kellogg by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,056,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,012,000 after purchasing an additional 206,320 shares in the last quarter. 95.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

WK Kellogg Trading Up 0.5 %

KLG opened at $19.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 24.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45. WK Kellogg Co has a twelve month low of $14.37 and a twelve month high of $24.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $17.57 and a 200-day moving average of $17.91.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 predict that WK Kellogg Co will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

WK Kellogg Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be paid a $0.165 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This is a positive change from WK Kellogg’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. WK Kellogg’s payout ratio is 81.48%.

WK Kellogg 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.