Arizona State Retirement System Lowers Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Arizona State Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 255,798 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,291 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $7,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 11.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,350,000 after buying an additional 545,504 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 52.5% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 170,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,988,000 after acquiring an additional 58,665 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 229.8% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 342,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,530,000 after acquiring an additional 238,913 shares in the last quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 157,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,529,000 after purchasing an additional 44,485 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 12.6% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 487,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,132,000 after purchasing an additional 54,656 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KHC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. 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, Kraft Heinz currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $32.18 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.31. The stock has a market cap of $38.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $27.25 and a 12 month high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its 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, analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.80%.

Kraft Heinz Profile

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.