Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 810,635 Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 32.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,687,144 shares of the company’s stock after selling 810,635 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $51,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 14.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,097,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,519,000 after purchasing an additional 138,101 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 11,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the period. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 191,387 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,877,000 after buying an additional 11,587 shares during the last quarter. City Center Advisors LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 69.7% in the fourth quarter. City Center Advisors LLC now owns 21,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $674,000 after acquiring an additional 9,011 shares during the period. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 229.8% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 342,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,530,000 after acquiring an additional 238,913 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 1.4 %

KHC opened at $28.08 on Friday. The Kraft Heinz Company has a 12 month low of $27.25 and a 12 month high of $36.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.61 and a 200 day moving average of $30.41. The firm has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.30.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.69 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.70%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 73.06%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report 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. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Cfra Research lowered Kraft Heinz from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.65.

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.