Cereal Stock Sporting Cheap Options

Kellogg Company (NYSE: K) is an American food manufacturing company with a large market share of the breakfast market. It produces cereal and convenience foods, including crackers and toaster pastries, which it sells under several well-known brands. Some of these brands include Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Frosted Flakes, Special K, Pop-Tarts, Eggo, Mini-Wheats, Pringles, Cheez-It. Ahead of the bell, the cereal maker is trading flat at $73.89.

Regarding the stock, K has added 18% year-over-year and has increased by 14% in 2022. Coming in as support over the past few weeks has been the 120-day moving average. Nonetheless, Kellogg maintains a decent valuation at a forward price-earnings ratio of 17.61 and a price-sales ratio of 1.70. The company also offers a solid dividend yield of 3.23% at a forward dividend of $2.36.

Unfortunately, the business also holds an unfavorable balance sheet with $7.39 billion in total debt and only $375 million in cash, which could further hurt the company’s growth rate in the long run. As a result, K provides the most value for dividend investors.

 

Switching gears, short-term options traders are quite put-biased. This is per the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.85, which stands higher than 98% of readings from the past year.

 

Now might be the perfect time for investors to speculate on the stock's next move with options. K's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 20% sits in the 24th percentile of its annual range, indicating that now is an affordable time to play Kellogg stock.