United Community Bank Grows Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

United Community Bank grew its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 36,763 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,130 shares during the period. United Community Bank’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $1,129,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sawyer & Company Inc purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 191.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 969 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on KHC shares. Barclays cut their target price 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. Citigroup lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $32.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $27.25 and a 1 year high of $38.96. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $29.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.29. The company has a market cap of $38.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.24, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share 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 analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.