Kraft Heinz Company $KHC Shares Sold by Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC significantly reduced its stake in Kraft Heinz by 46.3%, now holding approximately 730,536 shares worth $22.23 million after selling 630,069 shares.
• Analysts have set varying new price targets for Kraft Heinz, with a consensus average target price of $30.22, and three analysts rating it as a sell.
• Kraft Heinz has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.40, representing a 5.8% dividend yield, scheduled for payment on September 26th.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 46.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 730,536 shares of the company's stock after selling 630,069 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Kraft Heinz worth $22,230,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Laird Norton Wetherby Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 393 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KHC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $25.00 to $27.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and seventeen have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.35.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ KHC traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $27.27. 7,898,079 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,880,246. The business's 50 day moving average is $27.04 and its 200-day moving average is $28.36. Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $25.44 and a 1 year high of $36.53. The company has a market capitalization of $32.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.07.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -35.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Kraft Heinz news, Director Elio Leoni Sceti sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $697,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 40,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,116,400. The trade was a 38.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.