Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 50.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,805 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,177 shares during the quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $1,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KHC. Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 39,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after purchasing an additional 3,916 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in Kraft Heinz during the third quarter valued at $5,399,000. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 13,857 shares of the company’s stock valued at $512,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,768,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,478,000 after buying an additional 247,896 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 457,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,934,000 after buying an additional 136,556 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KHC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.57.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 0.7 %

KHC traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $36.45. 761,591 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,067,546. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.75. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $30.68 and a 1-year high of $41.44. The company has a market cap of $44.31 billion, a PE ratio of 16.04, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $0.69 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.41% and a net margin of 10.62%. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, June 6th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.87%.

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.