Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Acquires 6,371 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 295,254 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,371 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $9,064,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 229.8% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 342,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,530,000 after purchasing an additional 238,913 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,048,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Kraft Heinz by 16.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,906,000 after buying an additional 1,238,200 shares during the last quarter. FLC Capital Advisors boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 121.0% in the fourth quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 18,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $573,000 after acquiring an additional 10,214 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 511.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 42,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after acquiring an additional 35,725 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Mizuho lowered Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.69.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of KHC opened at $29.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $35.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.12, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $27.25 and a 12 month high of $38.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. Analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 70.80%.

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.