The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Shares Acquired by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,194 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,902 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $2,801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,779,524,000 after buying an additional 14,996,486 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter worth about $411,304,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after acquiring an additional 6,366,732 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 2,858,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403,220 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on KHC shares. Citigroup downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho lowered Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.73.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $30.24 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $27.25 and a 1 year high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $31.71.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.80%.

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.