Hennessy Advisors Inc. Sells 4,800 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 131,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,800 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $4,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KHC. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,558,898,000 after buying an additional 6,366,732 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,821,000 after buying an additional 1,944,019 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the third quarter worth about $411,304,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 9.7% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,064,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,061,000 after acquiring an additional 799,581 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $29.27 on Friday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $28.37 and a 12-month high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market capitalization of $35.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.22.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kraft Heinz

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.23.

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.