Poplar Forest Capital LLC Grows Stake in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Poplar Forest Capital LLC boosted its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 898,614 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,705 shares during the quarter. Kraft Heinz accounts for 4.3% of Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Poplar Forest Capital LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $31,550,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 249.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,077.0% during the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 94.8% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KHC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ KHC opened at $33.42 on Thursday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $31.58 and a 52-week high of $38.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $40.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.01 and a 200-day moving average of $34.74.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.14%.

Kraft Heinz 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.