Palouse Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,950 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 62,547 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,950 shares during the period. Kraft Heinz makes up approximately 1.6% of Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Palouse Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $2,313,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 0.6% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,215,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,362,053,000 after buying an additional 417,115 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,344,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,313,427,000 after acquiring an additional 1,397,795 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,601,098 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,581,000 after buying an additional 2,369,080 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 1,835.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,527,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,964,000 after purchasing an additional 18,518,584 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 1.1% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,062,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,169,000 after acquiring an additional 161,170 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Kraft Heinz stock traded up $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.78. 9,117,591 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,138,727. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $45.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.67. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $30.68 and a 1 year high of $41.47.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. Kraft Heinz’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid 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 of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KHC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.