Blue Trust Inc. Buys 474 Shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 11.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,455 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 474 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $136,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KHC. Hara Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 61.9% during the 4th quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 67,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,076,000 after purchasing an additional 3,470 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 17,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter worth $109,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 580,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,828,000 after purchasing an additional 34,002 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KHC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $29.00 price target on Kraft Heinz and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Friday, April 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Finally, DZ Bank cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.35.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of KHC opened at $26.03 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $30.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.27. The business’s 50 day moving average is $27.52 and its 200 day moving average is $29.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $25.53 and a 12-month high of $36.53.

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

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.06%.

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.