XML Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

XML Financial LLC boosted its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,148 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,427 shares during the quarter. XML Financial LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $220,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter worth about $411,304,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,366,732 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,821,000 after buying an additional 1,944,019 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,906,000 after buying an additional 1,238,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 1,139.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,273,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,112,000 after buying an additional 1,170,814 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ KHC opened at $29.07 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $30.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.16. The company has a market capitalization of $35.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.48. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $28.37 and a 12 month high of $38.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.56.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.50%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

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.