Sigma Planning Corp Buys 14,514 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Sigma Planning Corp increased its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 21.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,040 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,514 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $2,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after acquiring an additional 6,366,732 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944,019 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at $411,304,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,906,000 after buying an additional 1,238,200 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,350,000 after buying an additional 545,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $31.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.54. The company has a market cap of $37.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $27.25 and a 12-month high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. On average, research analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.14%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.80%.

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.