The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Buys 46,740 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 544,638 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 46,740 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $19,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KHC. LSV Asset Management boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.1% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,107,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,450,000 after purchasing an additional 189,000 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in Kraft Heinz by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,064,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,061,000 after buying an additional 799,581 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 47.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,536,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778,263 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 11.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,350,000 after acquiring an additional 545,504 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 14.2% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,063,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,912,000 after acquiring an additional 505,180 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $31.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average of $33.77 and a 200-day moving average of $34.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.49. The Kraft Heinz Company has a fifty-two week low of $30.40 and a fifty-two week high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kraft Heinz

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,626,122.75. The trade was a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KHC. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.55.

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.