RK Asset Management LLC Decreases Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

RK Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 208,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,247 shares during the period. Kraft Heinz comprises about 5.2% of RK Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. RK Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $6,412,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 40.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 14.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,097,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,519,000 after purchasing an additional 138,101 shares in the last quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 14.5% in the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 69,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,434,000 after buying an additional 8,785 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 190,799 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,699,000 after purchasing an additional 16,690 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 59,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after acquiring an additional 7,004 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of KHC traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $30.61. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,839,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,949,074. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $31.77 and its 200-day moving average is $33.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $30.01 and a 52-week high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.23%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on KHC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho lowered their price target on Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.55.

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

The Kraft Heinz Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in North America and internationally. Its products include condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee, and other grocery products under the Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Heinz, Philadelphia, Lunchables, Velveeta, Ore-Ida, Maxwell House, Kool-Aid, Jell-O, Heinz, ABC, Master, Quero, Kraft, Golden Circle, Wattie's, Pudliszki, and Plasmon brands.