First Trust Advisors LP Buys 241,087 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,424,038 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 241,087 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.37% of Kraft Heinz worth $135,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after acquiring an additional 14,996,486 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at $324,857,000. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 96.4% in the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 2,858,253 shares of the company's stock worth $87,777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403,220 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth $39,339,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake 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. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $29.46 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average is $29.98 and its 200-day moving average is $31.06. 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 $35.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The Kraft Heinz Company has a twelve month low of $27.25 and a twelve month high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Equities research analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.43%. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is presently 70.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KHC. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho downgraded Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.67.

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.

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