Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Raises Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 133,802 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,514 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $4,948,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KHC. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 23.4% during the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 69.9% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 661 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Archer Investment Corp raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 14,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 10,005 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, Econ Financial Services Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 0.6% in the third quarter. Econ Financial Services Corp now owns 53,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $37.78 on Friday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $30.68 and a 1 year high of $41.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.37. The company has a market capitalization of $45.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.67.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 10.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.85 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.26%.

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.