Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Acquires 9,833 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its holdings in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 23.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,628 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,833 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $1,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 249.5% during the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the third quarter valued at $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,077.0% in the 3rd quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 94.8% during the 2nd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.55.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of KHC stock opened at $31.93 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.61 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.49. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 52-week low of $30.40 and a 52-week high of $38.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.01%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.