Whittier Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Whittier Trust Co. decreased its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,861 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,492 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter worth about $411,304,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after acquiring an additional 6,366,732 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,019 shares in the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 96.4% during the fourth quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 2,858,253 shares of the company’s stock valued at $87,777,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth $39,339,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KHC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $29.52 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.93. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $27.25 and a 1 year high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.80%.

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.