Natixis Advisors L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Natixis Advisors L.P. boosted its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 41.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 910,526 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 267,833 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.07% of Kraft Heinz worth $33,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 386,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,998,000 after buying an additional 7,491 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 19.4% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 913,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,743,000 after purchasing an additional 148,673 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 36,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,232,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 8.7% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,447 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 996 shares during the period. Finally, Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 2.8% in the third quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 390,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,136,000 after acquiring an additional 10,500 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on KHC shares. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.50.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC opened at $36.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.75. The firm has a market cap of $44.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.87, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.65. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $30.68 and a 1 year high of $41.44.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.43 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.41%. Kraft Heinz’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 6th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

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.