Whittier Trust Co. Lowers Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Whittier Trust Co. lessened its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,861 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,492 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sawyer & Company Inc bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 191.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 969 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 636 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KHC has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

KHC opened at $29.52 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $35.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.93. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $27.25 and a 52-week high of $38.96.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.42%. 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.