Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Reduces Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lowered its position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 297,197 shares of the company's stock after selling 43,610 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $10,990,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 69.9% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 661 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KHC has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $40.57.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of KHC stock traded up $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.78. 9,117,769 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,747,855. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $35.91 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.39. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $30.68 and a 1-year high of $41.47. The company has a market cap of $45.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 10.72%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio is currently 69.26%.

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.