Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Boosts Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 824,732 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 90,800 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 0.07% of Kraft Heinz worth $25,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sawyer & Company Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KHC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Monday, March 24th. They issued an “underweight” rating and a $29.00 price objective on the stock. Cfra Research lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Mizuho downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.69.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC stock opened at $29.49 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $35.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The Kraft Heinz Company has a fifty-two week low of $27.25 and a fifty-two week high of $38.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $30.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $30.92.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.80%.

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.