Versant Capital Management Inc Purchases 602 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 40.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,082 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 602 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $64,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KHC. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after buying an additional 6,366,732 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,019 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter valued at $411,304,000. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.1% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,107,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,450,000 after purchasing an additional 189,000 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,064,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,061,000 after buying an additional 799,581 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of KHC opened at $30.61 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $31.69 and a 200 day moving average of $33.45. The company has a market capitalization of $37.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.58, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.48. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $30.01 and a 12 month high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.55.

Insider Transactions at Kraft Heinz

In other news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.