Accuvest Global Advisors Reduces Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Accuvest Global Advisors trimmed its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 10,223 shares of the company’s stock after selling 718 shares during the quarter. Kraft Heinz accounts for 0.4% of Accuvest Global Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Accuvest Global Advisors’ holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter worth about $411,304,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,366,732 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,019 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake 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 worth $269,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 1,139.3% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,273,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,112,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,814 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KHC has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho downgraded Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $29.32 on Wednesday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $27.25 and a 12 month high of $38.96. The stock has a market cap of $35.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.46%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 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.