Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 138,101 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,097,084 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 138,101 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Kraft Heinz worth $38,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in Kraft Heinz by 249.5% during the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 741 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 1,077.0% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 871 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 94.8% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 978 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at $5,626,122.75. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of KHC traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $32.10. 5,945,121 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,787,726. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 0.49. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $34.86 and its 200-day moving average is $34.59. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $31.58 and a 1 year high of $38.96.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.98%. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 144.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KHC shares. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $37.25.

About Kraft Heinz

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.