Natixis Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in WK Kellogg Co. (NYSE:KLG)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC acquired a stake of $234,000 in WK Kellogg Co., purchasing 11,720 shares during the first quarter, reflecting growing institutional interest in the company.
• WK Kellogg recently reported quarterly earnings with a missed EPS estimate of $0.25 compared to the expected $0.28 and a year-over-year revenue decline of 8.8%.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, resulting in a 2.9% dividend yield despite a high payout ratio of 178.38%.

Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of WK Kellogg Co. (NYSE:KLG - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 11,720 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $234,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in WK Kellogg by 7.3% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 10,757 shares of the company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of WK Kellogg in the first quarter valued at $1,892,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 110.6% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 26,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 14,175 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of WK Kellogg in the fourth quarter valued at $416,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of WK Kellogg in the fourth quarter valued at $754,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KLG shares. TD Cowen raised WK Kellogg from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Cowen raised WK Kellogg from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen raised WK Kellogg from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $23.00 target price (up from $16.00) on shares of WK Kellogg in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.57.

WK Kellogg Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of KLG traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $23.04. The stock had a trading volume of 958,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,325,019. The firm has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 62.27 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.99. WK Kellogg Co. has a 12-month low of $14.80 and a 12-month high of $23.56. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $19.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.88.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.28 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $611.52 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $653.36 million. WK Kellogg had a return on equity of 31.34% and a net margin of 1.31%. The company's revenue was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.36 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that WK Kellogg Co. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WK Kellogg Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. WK Kellogg's dividend payout ratio is 178.38%.

About WK Kellogg

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.