Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Buys 29,543 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 520.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 35,216 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,543 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $1,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,398,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,603,349,000 after acquiring an additional 183,234 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 83.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,709,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,388,000 after purchasing an additional 3,961,872 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 3,402,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $109,629,000 after purchasing an additional 153,490 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,081,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,960,000 after purchasing an additional 474,758 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 56.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,840,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,929,000 after purchasing an additional 1,027,636 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cory Onell sold 4,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $146,736.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 143,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,182,920. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $35.16 on Thursday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $30.68 and a 1 year high of $38.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company’s 50-day moving average is $34.36 and its 200 day moving average is $35.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.49.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.05. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The company had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz’s quarterly revenue was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently 69.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KHC shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.31.

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.