Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 59,344 Shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in Kraft Heinz Company by 26.1%, holding 167,786 shares valued at approximately $5.11 million at the end of the first quarter.
• Kraft Heinz has received mixed analyst ratings, with a current average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.35.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, representing an annualized dividend yield of 5.9%.

Bank of Nova Scotia cut its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 26.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 167,786 shares of the company's stock after selling 59,344 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $5,106,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 4,390.7% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,444,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $226,523,000 after acquiring an additional 7,278,295 shares during the period. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at $87,080,000. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 341.9% in the fourth quarter. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can now owns 3,314,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,773,000 after buying an additional 2,564,000 shares in the last quarter. Criteria Caixa S.A.U. purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at $73,316,000. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,830.2% in the fourth quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 1,936,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,466,000 after buying an additional 1,836,048 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ KHC traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.76. 9,265,738 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,561,108. Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $25.44 and a 1 year high of $36.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.18, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The business has a 50 day moving average of $26.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $28.47.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.35 billion during 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%. Kraft Heinz's revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio is presently -35.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Mizuho set a $29.00 price objective on Kraft Heinz and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. DZ Bank lowered Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $30.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kraft Heinz news, Director Elio Leoni Sceti sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $697,750.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 40,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,116,400. This represents a 38.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kraft Heinz 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.