26,843 Shares in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Acquired by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 26,843 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $824,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,779,524,000 after purchasing an additional 14,996,486 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after acquiring an additional 6,366,732 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944,019 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter worth $411,304,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at $324,857,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of KHC opened at $30.43 on Tuesday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52 week low of $27.25 and a 52 week high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market cap of $36.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.01 and a 200-day moving average of $31.65.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. As a group, analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.26%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 70.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KHC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $29.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.73.

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.