Hartford Investment Management Co. Decreases Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Hartford Investment Management Co. lessened its position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 1.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 54,285 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the quarter. Hartford Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $1,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,558,898,000 after buying an additional 6,366,732 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944,019 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the third quarter valued at approximately $411,304,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted 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 purchasing an additional 1,238,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,350,000 after purchasing an additional 545,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $29.25 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.98 and its 200 day moving average is $32.80. The stock has a market cap of $35.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.47. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $27.25 and a 52-week high of $38.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. Sell-side analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on KHC. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

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.