Argyle Capital Management Inc. Buys 3,500 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 30.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.4% during the third quarter. MADDEN SECURITIES Corp now owns 12,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $419,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Axiom Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.2% during the third quarter. Axiom Advisory LLC now owns 6,594 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 327 shares during the period. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Lorne Steinberg Wealth Management Inc. now owns 109,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,044,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Finally, Norden Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 9,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kraft Heinz

In related news, insider Cory Onell sold 4,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total value of $146,736.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 143,970 shares in the company, valued at $5,182,920. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $34.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,788,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,715,250. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.87. The Kraft Heinz Company has a one year low of $31.08 and a one year high of $38.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.55 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.38% and a net margin of 7.30%. Kraft Heinz’s revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.79 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on KHC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.58.

About Kraft Heinz

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.