American Assets Inc. Invests $950,000 in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ)

Key Points

• American Assets Inc. has purchased 14,000 shares of Mondelez International, valued at approximately $950,000, making it the 10th largest position in their investment portfolio.
• Mondelez International's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $0.73, surpassing estimates by $0.05, with revenue of $8.98 billion, a 7.7% increase from the previous year.
• The company announced an increase in its quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.1% for shareholders of record by September 30th.

American Assets Inc. acquired a new stake in Mondelez International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 14,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $950,000. Mondelez International accounts for approximately 0.3% of American Assets Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Mondelez International by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 37,529,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,241,637,000 after buying an additional 4,572,555 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the first quarter valued at $189,930,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Mondelez International by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 13,734,080 shares of the company's stock worth $820,337,000 after buying an additional 2,002,640 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in Mondelez International by 148.6% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 2,970,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $201,549,000 after acquiring an additional 1,775,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Mondelez International during the 4th quarter valued at about $104,065,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.32% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Mondelez International from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Friday, June 20th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Mondelez International from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Mondelez International from $66.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Mondelez International from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Mondelez International from $64.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Mondelez International presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $71.95.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

Shares of MDLZ stock traded down $0.23 on Wednesday, hitting $62.07. 7,727,906 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,372,521. The company has a market capitalization of $80.37 billion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.46. The company's fifty day moving average is $67.58 and its 200 day moving average is $65.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Mondelez International, Inc. has a 1-year low of $53.95 and a 1-year high of $76.06.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $8.98 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.82 billion. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 15.35% and a net margin of 9.84%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.86 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Mondelez International, Inc. will post 2.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mondelez International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Mondelez International's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Mondelez International's payout ratio is presently 68.86%.

About Mondelez International

Mondelez International, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells snack food and beverage products in the Latin America, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It provides biscuits and baked snacks, including cookies, crackers, salted snacks, snack bars, and cakes and pastries; chocolates; and gums and candies, as well as various cheese and grocery, and powdered beverage products.