Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 14.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,097,084 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 138,101 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Kraft Heinz worth $38,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KHC. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 334,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,775,000 after acquiring an additional 7,499 shares in the last quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 92.5% during the 2nd quarter. Kintegral Advisory LLC now owns 32,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,051,000 after acquiring an additional 15,684 shares in the last quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc. acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz during the 2nd quarter worth about $306,000. HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,013 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 79.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 20,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,000 after acquiring an additional 9,271 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC stock opened at $30.46 on Tuesday. 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 Kraft Heinz Company has a 1 year low of $30.01 and a 1 year high of $38.96. The firm has a market cap of $36.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.63.

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

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on KHC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.55.

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.