Metis Global Partners LLC Grows Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 11.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 50,344 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,999 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $1,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 11,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 1,881 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter worth $203,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 26.3% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 314,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,057,000 after buying an additional 65,672 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 218.1% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 122,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,355,000 after buying an additional 84,102 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 6.2% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,874,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,822,000 after buying an additional 109,777 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on KHC. Mizuho lowered Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $31.32 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $29.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.37. The firm has a market cap of $37.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.86, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.47. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $27.25 and a 52-week high of $38.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently 70.80%.

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.