Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 11,425 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 88,440 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,425 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $3,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 17,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,052 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 44.6% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 3,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 64.2% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 360,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,348,000 after purchasing an additional 141,093 shares during the last quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,842,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,126,000 after purchasing an additional 301,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.57.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $38.07 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.98 and a 200 day moving average of $35.48.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly 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 business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is presently 69.26%.

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.