Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC Invests $411.30 Million in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 11,714,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $411,304,000. Kraft Heinz accounts for 1.4% of Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 0.97% of Kraft Heinz at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 41.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $345,000 after buying an additional 3,128 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 10,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $351,000 after buying an additional 931 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 20.7% during the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 16.0% in the 2nd quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 178,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,750,000 after purchasing an additional 24,669 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 23.1% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. The trade was a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $31.61 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $34.10. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $30.40 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.48.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. Kraft Heinz’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is 144.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.55.

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.