Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP Makes New $28.37 Million Investment in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP acquired a new position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 808,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,374,000. Kraft Heinz comprises 1.9% of Ilex Capital Partners UK LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the third quarter valued at about $411,304,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 47.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,536,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,379,000 after buying an additional 1,778,263 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 387.7% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,455,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,086,000 after buying an additional 1,156,712 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 260.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,169,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,686,000 after buying an additional 845,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Poplar Forest Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the second quarter valued at about $26,353,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of Kraft Heinz 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at $5,626,122.75. The trade was a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 0.4 %

KHC stock traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $31.49. 1,390,350 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,994,198. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $38.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.48, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.10. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $30.40 and a 12-month high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 144.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on KHC shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.55.

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.