Russell Investments Group Ltd. Buys 546,474 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 115.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,020,501 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 546,474 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $31,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 52.1% in the fourth quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 28,719 shares of the company’s stock worth $882,000 after purchasing an additional 9,835 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at $11,402,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. raised its stake in Kraft Heinz by 458.7% during the 4th quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 64,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,969,000 after buying an additional 52,632 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,375 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 1,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 61.5% in the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 14,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $440,000 after acquiring an additional 5,450 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $28.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $27.25 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.61%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 70.80%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KHC. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho cut shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.