Royce & Associates LP Acquires 85,000 Shares of Kraft Heinz Company $KHC

Royce & Associates LP grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 68.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 210,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 85,000 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $5,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KHC. STF Management LP grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. STF Management LP now owns 18,475 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 15.5% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 431 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 13.4% during the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Barrett & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 22.7% in the third quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 2,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silverlake Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.4% in the second quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $24.04 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $28.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.87 and a beta of 0.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $24.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.02. Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $21.99 and a 52-week high of $33.35.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.38 billion. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.07% and a negative net margin of 23.44%.The firm’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.84 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.100 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 6th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -32.39%.

Insider Transactions at Kraft Heinz

In related news, insider Miguel Patricio sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.82, for a total transaction of $3,102,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 686,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,046,797.94. The trade was a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cory Onell sold 9,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.61, for a total transaction of $222,597.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 202,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,982,392.94. This trade represents a 4.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 139,036 shares of company stock valued at $3,446,578. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on KHC shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $26.00 to $23.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Kraft Heinz from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $24.00 to $22.00 in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $23.00 price objective on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $24.89.

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) is a global food and beverage company formed in 2015 through the merger of Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Company. The combination created one of the largest packaged-food companies in the world, built around well-known consumer brands. The merger was supported by major investors and established a multi-national platform for branded food products.

Kraft Heinz develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad portfolio of branded packaged foods and condiments.