Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Invests $786,000 in Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund bought a new position in Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 25,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $786,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Hara Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 61.9% in the fourth quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 67,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,076,000 after acquiring an additional 3,470 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 43.3% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 9,398 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 17,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,000 after buying an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of KHC stock opened at $25.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $30.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.27. Kraft Heinz Company has a 52 week low of $25.53 and a 52 week high of $36.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.58 and a 200-day moving average of $29.16.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.44% and a return on equity of 7.37%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KHC. DZ Bank lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Friday, April 4th. Cfra Research lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.35.

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.