WK Kellogg Co. (NYSE:KLG) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Key Points

• WK Kellogg Co. experienced a significant decline in short interest, decreasing by 22.2% to 5,180,000 shares as of August 15th.
• Institutional investors own 95.74% of WK Kellogg’s stock, with notable increases in stakes from firms like Vanguard Group and LSV Asset Management.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.165 per share, reflecting a yield of 2.9%, despite a high dividend payout ratio of 178.38%.

WK Kellogg Co. (NYSE:KLG - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,180,000 shares, a drop of 22.2% from the July 31st total of 6,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days. Approximately 6.4% of the company's stock are sold short. Approximately 6.4% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,780,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WK Kellogg

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in WK Kellogg by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 3,945 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in WK Kellogg by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 781,592 shares of the company's stock worth $14,061,000 after acquiring an additional 18,704 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in WK Kellogg by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 254,032 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,570,000 after purchasing an additional 12,117 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in shares of WK Kellogg in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,302,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 44.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 253,546 shares of the company's stock worth $4,561,000 after purchasing an additional 77,510 shares in the last quarter. 95.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KLG. TD Cowen raised WK Kellogg from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $14.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Monday, July 14th. BNP Paribas set a $23.00 price objective on WK Kellogg in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Cowen upgraded WK Kellogg from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Zacks Research upgraded WK Kellogg from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded WK Kellogg from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WK Kellogg has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $20.88.

WK Kellogg Stock Performance

Shares of KLG traded down $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $22.97. The stock had a trading volume of 2,212,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 963,481. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a PE ratio of 62.08 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $22.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.62. WK Kellogg has a 12 month low of $14.80 and a 12 month high of $23.56.

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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $653.36 million. WK Kellogg had a net margin of 1.31% and a return on equity of 31.34%. WK Kellogg's revenue for the quarter was down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. Analysts anticipate that WK Kellogg will post 1.57 EPS for the current year.

WK Kellogg Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th were given a dividend of $0.165 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 29th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. WK Kellogg's payout ratio is presently 178.38%.

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.