Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Acquires 169,858 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 113.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 319,802 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 169,858 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $11,826,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,215,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,362,053,000 after buying an additional 417,115 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,344,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,313,427,000 after buying an additional 1,397,795 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,601,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,581,000 after buying an additional 2,369,080 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 1,835.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,527,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,964,000 after buying an additional 18,518,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,062,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,169,000 after buying an additional 161,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KHC shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup started coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.57.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 1.8 %

KHC stock opened at $37.78 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $45.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.67. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1-year low of $30.68 and a 1-year high of $41.47. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.37.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 10.72%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.26%.

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.