Public Sector Pension Investment Board Increases Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 138.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,751 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,200 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $1,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KHC. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 47.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,536,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,263 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 387.7% during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,455,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,086,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156,712 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 260.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,169,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,686,000 after acquiring an additional 845,490 shares during the period. Poplar Forest Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,353,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 799,581 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $30.81 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $33.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.99. The Kraft Heinz Company has a fifty-two week low of $30.40 and a fifty-two week high of $38.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.25 billion, a PE ratio of 27.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.06.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 144.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.55.

Insider Activity at Kraft Heinz

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

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.