Brokerages Set Kellogg (NYSE:K) Target Price at $67.33

Shares of Kellogg (NYSE:K – Get Rating) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have issued a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.33.

Several research firms have issued reports on K. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Kellogg from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $64.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Friday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut Kellogg from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, January 31st. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Kellogg in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group initiated coverage on Kellogg in a research note on Wednesday, March 30th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $73.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kellogg from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 11th.

K stock traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $67.86. 2,011,348 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,511,305. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.67, a P/E/G ratio of 5.93 and a beta of 0.56. Kellogg has a 1-year low of $59.54 and a 1-year high of $68.60.

Kellogg (NYSE:K – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 10th. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.79 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $3.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.39 billion. Kellogg had a return on equity of 36.15% and a net margin of 10.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Kellogg will post 4.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 1st were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 28th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.58%.

In other Kellogg news, CFO Amit Banati sold 11,054 shares of Kellogg stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.53, for a total transaction of $735,422.62. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Kellogg W. K. Foundation Trust sold 146,153 shares of Kellogg stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total value of $8,918,256.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 476,483 shares of company stock valued at $30,058,987. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of K. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Kellogg by 153.8% in the 2nd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,225,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $271,815,000 after purchasing an additional 2,560,788 shares during the last quarter. HS Management Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kellogg in the 3rd quarter valued at about $117,268,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Kellogg by 96.2% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 3,739,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,448 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kellogg in the 4th quarter valued at about $82,762,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new position in Kellogg in the 4th quarter valued at about $74,159,000. 83.69% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kellogg Company Profile (Get Rating)

Kellogg Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets snacks and convenience foods. The company operates through four segments: North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Middle East Africa. Its principal products include crackers, crisps, savory snacks, toaster pastries, cereal bars, granola bars and bites, ready-to-eat cereals, frozen waffles, veggie foods, and noodles.

Featured Stories