Cooke & Bieler LP Purchases 301,294 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Cooke & Bieler LP increased its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 19.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,842,241 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 301,294 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP owned about 0.15% of Kraft Heinz worth $68,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 69.9% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 661 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the third quarter worth $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ KHC opened at $37.78 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $45.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.67. The Kraft Heinz Company has a twelve month low of $30.68 and a twelve month high of $41.47. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $35.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 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 the consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 10.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Kraft Heinz Company 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.