Aberdeen Group plc Purchases 308,273 Shares of Kraft Heinz Company $KHC

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its shareholding in Kraft Heinz Company by 101% in Q1, acquiring an additional 308,273 shares, bringing its total ownership to 613,505 shares valued at approximately $18.67 million.
• Kraft Heinz declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, with a record date of August 29th and an annualized yield of 5.8%, despite showing a 1.9% year-over-year decline in revenue for the quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed opinions on Kraft Heinz, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target set at $30.35, reflecting a cautious outlook on the stock's performance.

Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 101.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 613,505 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 308,273 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.05% of Kraft Heinz worth $18,672,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP now owns 7,867 shares of the company's stock valued at $239,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,009 shares of the company's stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 15,091 shares of the company's stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 25,596 shares of the company's stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 69,058 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,101,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Elio Leoni Sceti sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $697,750.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,400. This represents a 38.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KHC has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Mizuho set a $29.00 price target on shares of Kraft Heinz and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.35.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 0.1%

Kraft Heinz stock opened at $27.67 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.75 billion, a PE ratio of -6.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.23. The company's 50-day moving average is $27.02 and its 200-day moving average is $28.38. Kraft Heinz Company has a fifty-two week low of $25.44 and a fifty-two week high of $36.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.07 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Kraft Heinz had a negative net margin of 20.83% and a positive return on equity of 7.40%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. Kraft Heinz's revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio is -35.63%.

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.

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