Toronto Dominion Bank Increases Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 167.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,304,470 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 816,532 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.11% of Kraft Heinz worth $40,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Kennondale Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on KHC. Bank of America cut Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup restated a "sell" rating and issued a $27.00 price target (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, DZ Bank lowered Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.65.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC traded up $0.02 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $27.90. The company had a trading volume of 9,482,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,267,911. The stock has a market cap of $33.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.30. The Kraft Heinz Company has a one year low of $27.14 and a one year high of $36.53. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 5.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is 73.06%.

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.