Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of WK Kellogg Call Options (NYSE:KLG)

WK Kellogg Co. (NYSE:KLG - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 12,055 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 2,116% compared to the average daily volume of 544 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WK Kellogg

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 149.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,186,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $75,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,510,779 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 280.5% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,038,537 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,558,000 after purchasing an additional 2,239,966 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 172.9% during the 4th quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,494,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,883,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580,704 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of WK Kellogg during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,737,000. Finally, Credit Agricole S A grew its holdings in shares of WK Kellogg by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Credit Agricole S A now owns 4,287,331 shares of the company's stock valued at $85,447,000 after purchasing an additional 403,970 shares during the last quarter. 95.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WK Kellogg Stock Performance

WK Kellogg stock traded up $5.39 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $22.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 37,348,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,121,140. WK Kellogg has a 1-year low of $14.80 and a 1-year high of $27.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $16.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.79. The company has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.76, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.23.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.20 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.21). WK Kellogg had a return on equity of 34.88% and a net margin of 2.14%. The business had revenue of $667.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $677.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. WK Kellogg's revenue for the quarter was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that WK Kellogg will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

WK Kellogg Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th were paid a $0.165 dividend. This represents a $0.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. WK Kellogg's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of WK Kellogg from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of WK Kellogg in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WK Kellogg presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $16.86.

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.