Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,360,605 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,341 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Kraft Heinz worth $41,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KHC. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth approximately $66,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 51,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 14,232 shares during the last quarter. Allstate Corp acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at $824,000. Maridea Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth about $483,000. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 7,796.5% in the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 34,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 33,759 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KHC shares. Bank of America downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho lowered Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.73.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of KHC opened at $30.24 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.71. The stock has a market cap of $36.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $27.25 and a 12-month high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. As a group, research analysts predict that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 70.80%.

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.