Kellogg (NYSE:K) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 15,360,000 shares, a decline of 11.1% from the December 15th total of 17,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.7 days. Currently, 4.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.
Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America raised Kellogg from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $75.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on Kellogg in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $65.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised Kellogg from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $70.00 to $79.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays lowered Kellogg to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Edward Jones raised Kellogg from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.75.
In related news, SVP Alistair D. Hirst sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.88, for a total transaction of $159,700.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.33, for a total value of $6,933,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 625,291 shares of company stock valued at $41,158,106. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Shares of NYSE:K traded up $0.29 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $70.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,373,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,667,419. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $67.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.00. Kellogg has a fifty-two week low of $51.34 and a fifty-two week high of $70.00.
Kellogg (NYSE:K) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $3.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.35 billion. Kellogg had a return on equity of 42.47% and a net margin of 5.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.06 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kellogg will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Kellogg’s payout ratio is currently 52.66%.
Kellogg Company Profile
Kellogg Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets ready-to-eat cereal and convenience foods. The company operates through U.S. Snacks, U.S. Morning Foods, U.S. Specialty Channels, North America Other, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific segments. Its principal products include crackers, cookies, crisps and other savory snacks, toaster pastries, cereal bars, granola bars and bites, fruit-flavored snacks, ready-to-eat cereals, frozen waffles, veggie foods, and noodles.
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