Invesco Ltd. Reduces Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Invesco Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 29.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,003,886 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,160,655 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 1.41% of Kraft Heinz worth $522,189,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KHC. IHT Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter worth about $238,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 276.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 126,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,447,000 after acquiring an additional 93,046 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 53.0% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 55,695 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 19,288 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.1% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 110,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 2.7% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 141,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,975,000 after purchasing an additional 3,762 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 2.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $27.69 on Wednesday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $27.25 and a 1 year high of $38.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.39. The company has a market cap of $33.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. Sell-side analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is 70.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on KHC. Citigroup reissued a “sell” rating and set a $27.00 price objective (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $29.00 target price for the company. Barclays dropped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.67.

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.