The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Shares Acquired by Applied Finance Capital Management LLC

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,344 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,016 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,779,524,000 after acquiring an additional 14,996,486 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,745,734 shares of the company’s stock worth $604,644,000 after buying an additional 595,406 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at $324,857,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,601,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,016,000 after purchasing an additional 293,694 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KHC. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.67.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $28.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $34.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $27.25 and a 12-month 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $30.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $31.46.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.61%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.80%.

Kraft Heinz 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.