Hennessy Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 42.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 187,000 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 55,700 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $5,690,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KHC. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Kennondale Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock traded down $0.40 during trading on Monday, hitting $25.68. 2,944,050 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,540,869. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $25.68 and a 1 year high of $36.53. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.27.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. The business had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio is presently 73.06%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KHC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DZ Bank cut Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho set a $29.00 target price on shares of Kraft Heinz and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating and issued a $27.00 target price (down from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Cfra Research lowered Kraft Heinz from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.35.

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.