Generali Investments Management Co LLC Acquires Shares of 857 The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 130,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,995,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 20.1% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the period. Finally, LMG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on KHC. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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 report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC stock opened at $29.89 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $29.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.01. The firm has a market cap of $35.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.23, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.06. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $27.25 and a 1 year high of $38.96.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.80%.

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.