American Century Companies Inc. Grows Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 29.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 922,109 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 207,516 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.08% of Kraft Heinz worth $28,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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 fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 191.0% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 969 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on KHC. Bank of America downgraded 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group cut their price target on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.73.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $30.24 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.71. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $27.25 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The firm has a market cap of $36.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 70.80%.

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.