Lipe & Dalton Trims Stock Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Lipe & Dalton cut its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 152,959 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,129 shares during the period. Kraft Heinz makes up 2.5% of Lipe & Dalton’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Lipe & Dalton’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $4,697,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 143.4% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 245,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,620,000 after buying an additional 144,646 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 157.8% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,395 shares of the company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 5,750 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 10.7% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,446 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Hartford Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 9.8% during the third quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co. now owns 55,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 4,941 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

KHC opened at $31.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.73 and a 200-day moving average of $32.56. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $27.25 and a 52-week high of $38.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.14%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 70.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.86.

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.