Sowell Financial Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Sowell Financial Services LLC raised its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 146,806 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,232 shares during the period. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $4,508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 390,350.0% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 7,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 7,807 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Kendall Capital Management boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 79,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,442,000 after acquiring an additional 9,640 shares in the last quarter. United Community Bank grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.2% during the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 36,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,129,000 after acquiring an additional 5,130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 10,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on KHC shares. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $32.18 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.06. The Kraft Heinz Company has a fifty-two week low of $27.25 and a fifty-two week high of $38.96. The company has a market cap of $38.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is presently 70.80%.

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.