The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Position Increased by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 11.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 545,504 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $186,350,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KHC. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.5% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,608 shares of the company’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 2,914 shares during the last quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 669.0% during the 1st quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 12,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 14,719 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 24.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 119,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,391,000 after buying an additional 23,432 shares during the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the first quarter worth $7,742,000. Finally, Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 34.7% in the first quarter. Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP now owns 2,616,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,541,000 after buying an additional 674,436 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $31.81 on Friday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $30.40 and a 52-week high of $38.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market cap of $38.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $34.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.26.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.14%.

About Kraft Heinz

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.