Wealth Alliance Cuts Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Wealth Alliance lowered its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,630 shares of the company’s stock after selling 534 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KHC. SVB Wealth LLC grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 52,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,937,000 after acquiring an additional 7,986 shares in the last quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,244,000. VELA Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 66,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,458,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 273.3% in the 4th quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC now owns 17,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 12,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at about $225,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Kraft Heinz stock opened at $37.11 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $45.11 billion, a PE ratio of 16.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.67. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $30.68 and a 52-week high of $41.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.36.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 7.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KHC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.57.

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.