Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $32.74 Million Position in Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,076,026 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,175 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Kraft Heinz worth $32,743,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of KHC. Hara Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 61.9% during the fourth quarter. Hara Capital LLC now owns 1,700 shares of the company's stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 100,984 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,101,000 after purchasing an additional 3,522 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,482,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,339,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 207,634 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,376,000 after purchasing an additional 6,697 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $26.08 on Tuesday. Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $25.44 and a 1 year high of $36.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 1.31 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $30.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.81.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 30th. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio is currently 73.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on KHC. Mizuho set a $29.00 price target on Kraft Heinz and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. 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 note on Wednesday, June 25th. Cfra Research downgraded Kraft Heinz from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "sell" rating and issued a $27.00 price target (down from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.47.

About Kraft Heinz

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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