Smithfield Trust Co Acquires 1,633 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Smithfield Trust Co boosted its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 91.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,418 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,633 shares during the quarter. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the 1st quarter valued at about $325,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 44,621 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,647,000 after buying an additional 6,031 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 1st quarter worth approximately $439,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 2,914 shares during the period. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 1st quarter worth approximately $202,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the firm’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 in the company, valued at $5,626,122.75. This trade represents a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KHC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 research note on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.55.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ KHC opened at $31.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $37.60 billion, a PE ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The Kraft Heinz Company has a twelve month low of $30.40 and a twelve month high of $38.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.29.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

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.