CENTRAL TRUST Co Acquires 2,820 Shares of Kraft Heinz Company $KHC

CENTRAL TRUST Co lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 9.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,372 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,820 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 12.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 101,980,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,103,277,000 after acquiring an additional 11,472,071 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 4,390.7% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,444,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,523,000 after purchasing an additional 7,278,295 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 1st quarter worth approximately $61,110,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 22.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 10,480,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,895,722 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,460,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,588,000 after buying an additional 1,255,022 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on KHC. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Kraft Heinz to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $26.58.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 0.3%

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $24.75 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $29.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.16. Kraft Heinz Company has a one year low of $23.70 and a one year high of $33.35.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 8th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.26% and a negative net margin of 17.35%.The business had revenue of $6.39 billion for the quarter. Equities analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently -42.90%.

Kraft Heinz 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.