Financial Counselors Inc. Lowers Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Financial Counselors Inc. lessened its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,410 shares of the company’s stock after selling 344 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 1,835.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,527,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,964,000 after acquiring an additional 18,518,584 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 96.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,312,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $524,360,000 after acquiring an additional 6,537,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at $252,224,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,601,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,581,000 after acquiring an additional 2,369,080 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 86.0% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,627,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,671,000 after acquiring an additional 2,140,153 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KHC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup started coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.57.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ KHC opened at $35.94 on Friday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52 week low of $30.68 and a 52 week high of $41.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.28. The firm has a market cap of $43.69 billion, a PE ratio of 15.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.67.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 69.26%.

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.