CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 77,356 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co trimmed its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,088,030 shares of the company’s stock after selling 77,356 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.09% of Kraft Heinz worth $33,395,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sawyer & Company Inc bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $29.46 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.16 billion, a PE ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The Kraft Heinz Company has a twelve month low of $27.25 and a twelve month high of $38.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.08.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 70.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KHC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Bank of America lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.67.

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.