Cerity Partners LLC Has $16.93 Million Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 42.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 457,923 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 136,556 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $16,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 69.9% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KHC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.57.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

KHC opened at $35.94 on Friday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $30.68 and a 12-month high of $41.47. The stock has a market cap of $43.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $35.88 and a 200-day moving average of $35.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 69.26%.

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.