New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Increases Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,075 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the quarter. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $1,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 249.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Sawyer & Company Inc purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 191.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $28.92 on Tuesday. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.72. The firm has a market cap of $34.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.47. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $27.25 and a 12-month high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.53%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 144.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KHC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.86.

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.