Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Holdings in WK Kellogg Co. (NYSE:KLG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WK Kellogg Co. (NYSE:KLG) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 330,984 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,398 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.38% of WK Kellogg worth $6,597,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of WK Kellogg by 149.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 4,186,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,320,000 after buying an additional 2,510,779 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new position in WK Kellogg in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,737,000. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in WK Kellogg by 572.9% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 798,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,366,000 after purchasing an additional 679,888 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of WK Kellogg by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,705,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,682,000 after acquiring an additional 189,092 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in WK Kellogg during the 4th quarter valued at $2,302,000. 95.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

WK Kellogg Trading Up 0.2%

KLG opened at $23.05 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.17 and its 200-day moving average is $17.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.02 and a beta of 0.23. WK Kellogg Co. has a 52-week low of $14.80 and a 52-week high of $23.10.

WK Kellogg (NYSE:KLG) last posted 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 net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 34.88%. The business had revenue of $667.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $677.91 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that WK Kellogg Co. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WK Kellogg Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 30th. This represents a $0.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. WK Kellogg’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KLG. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of WK Kellogg from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. BNP Paribas set a $23.00 price objective on WK Kellogg in a research note on Friday. Cowen raised shares of WK Kellogg from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on WK Kellogg from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (up previously from $16.00) on shares of WK Kellogg in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eight have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.13.

WK Kellogg 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.