Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Reduces Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lessened its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 12.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 297,197 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,610 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $10,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 1,842,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,126,000 after acquiring an additional 301,294 shares during the period. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Litman Gregory Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $981,000 after acquiring an additional 848 shares during the period. Hapanowicz & Associates Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $259,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 102,618 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,795,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on KHC shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 target price for the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.57.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC traded up $0.67 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.78. 9,117,769 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,747,855. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $35.91 and its 200-day moving average is $35.37. The firm has a market cap of $45.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.67. The Kraft Heinz Company has a twelve month low of $30.68 and a twelve month high of $41.47.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 7.42%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 69.26%.

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.