ABC Arbitrage SA Makes New $1.30 Million Investment in Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Key Points

• ABC Arbitrage SA acquired a stake of 42,668 shares in the Kraft Heinz Company, valued at approximately $1,298,000, during the first quarter.
• Insider transactions revealed that Director Elio Leoni Sceti sold 25,000 shares of Kraft Heinz at an average price of $27.91, reducing their ownership by 38.46%.
• Kraft Heinz recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, to be paid on September 26th, with a yield of 5.9%.

ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 42,668 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,298,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,289,691 shares of the company's stock valued at $285,286,000 after acquiring an additional 1,039,885 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 8,585,167 shares of the company's stock worth $263,650,000 after purchasing an additional 1,628,516 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 1.3% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,171,720 shares of the company's stock worth $248,665,000 after purchasing an additional 103,548 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 4,390.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,444,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $226,523,000 after buying an additional 7,278,295 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,525,110 shares of the company's stock valued at $200,369,000 after buying an additional 174,706 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KHC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $27.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Kraft Heinz to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.35.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ KHC traded up $0.11 on Friday, hitting $27.76. 9,265,738 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,561,108. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $26.91 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.86 billion, a PE ratio of -6.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.07, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $25.44 and a 1-year high of $36.53.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.40% and a negative net margin of 20.83%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.78 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -35.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Elio Leoni Sceti sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $697,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,116,400. The trade was a 38.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

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.