Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. Increases Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 210,753 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,616 shares during the period. Kraft Heinz makes up about 1.2% of Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $6,472,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Bank of Stockton grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 9,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 3,235 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 420,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,928,000 after acquiring an additional 94,871 shares during the period. LMG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.4% during 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 period. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 9,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KHC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho lowered Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. StockNews.com downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 3.2 %

KHC stock opened at $31.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.56. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $27.25 and a 12 month high of $38.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.47.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. Equities analysts expect that The 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, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.14%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.80%.

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.