The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 46,740 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 544,638 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 46,740 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $19,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 249.5% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,077.0% during the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the period. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 94.8% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the third quarter worth $32,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on KHC. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price 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. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.55.

Insider Activity at Kraft Heinz

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $31.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $38.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.49. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $30.40 and a 12-month high of $38.96. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.11.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.14%.

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.