Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Takes $786,000 Position in Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 25,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $786,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after purchasing an additional 14,996,486 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter worth $324,857,000. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth about $87,080,000. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 341.9% during the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Criteria Caixa S.A.U. purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $73,316,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. Cfra Research downgraded Kraft Heinz from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Kraft Heinz from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $34.00 to $31.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.47.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $25.73. 17,543,707 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,748,541. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.11. Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $25.53 and a 1-year high of $36.53. The firm has a market cap of $30.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.27.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.02 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 10.44%. Kraft Heinz's revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.69 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.06%.

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.