Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 159,093 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,954,366 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159,093 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.16% of Kraft Heinz worth $60,019,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 108,792 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,820,000 after acquiring an additional 9,157 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 52,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,848,000 after acquiring an additional 9,833 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 34.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 96,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,376,000 after acquiring an additional 24,606 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 52,508 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,844,000 after acquiring an additional 2,538 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,844,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 0.6 %

KHC opened at $29.71 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $29.90 and a 200 day moving average of $32.00. The company has a market cap of $35.50 billion, a PE ratio of 13.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $27.25 and a 12 month high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KHC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.86.

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.