Ameriprise Financial Inc. Lowers Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 32.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,687,144 shares of the company’s stock after selling 810,635 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of Kraft Heinz worth $51,809,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sawyer & Company Inc bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com raised Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Cfra Research lowered Kraft Heinz from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.65.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $28.08 on Friday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $27.25 and a 1 year high of $36.70. The firm has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.42, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.61 and a 200 day moving average of $30.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. The firm had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 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, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 73.06%.

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.