Argyle Capital Management LLC Has $735,000 Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Argyle Capital Management LLC grew its position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 59.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,940 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,940 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $735,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter worth approximately $411,304,000. 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 increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944,019 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238,200 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 1,139.3% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,273,579 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,814 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC opened at $30.65 on Friday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $27.25 and a 1 year high of $38.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $36.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $29.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.45.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.80%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on KHC shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.86.

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.