AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Buys 293,459 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 137.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 506,587 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 293,459 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd's holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $15,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,366,732 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company's stock worth $669,821,000 after buying an additional 1,944,019 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Kraft Heinz during the third quarter worth about $411,304,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,350,000 after purchasing an additional 545,504 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group cut their target price on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Kraft Heinz stock traded up $0.47 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $29.79. The stock had a trading volume of 9,568,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,954,056. 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 stock has a market cap of $35.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.47. 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 moving average is $29.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.62.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. As a group, analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 5.37%. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.80%.

Kraft Heinz 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.