Empower Advisory Group LLC Raises Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,030,416 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 61,338 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned 0.17% of Kraft Heinz worth $71,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 116.9% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 48,881 shares of the company's stock worth $1,804,000 after buying an additional 26,344 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 29.7% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 673,911 shares of the company's stock worth $24,867,000 after buying an additional 154,462 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 6.8% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 13,267 shares of the company's stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 842 shares in the last quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 43.8% in the first quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 170,253 shares of the company's stock worth $6,282,000 after buying an additional 51,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.8% in the first quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 890,650 shares of the company's stock worth $34,441,000 after buying an additional 48,867 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC stock traded up $0.08 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $32.08. The stock had a trading volume of 4,818,234 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,794,215. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $34.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company has a market cap of $38.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.49. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $31.58 and a 52-week high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is 144.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KHC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of Kraft Heinz stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

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.