Argyle Capital Management Inc. Has $527,000 Position in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) by 30.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kraft Heinz were worth $527,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,107,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,450,000 after purchasing an additional 189,000 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,064,592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,061,000 after purchasing an additional 799,581 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 83.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,709,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,388,000 after buying an additional 3,961,872 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 47.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,536,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,379,000 after acquiring an additional 1,778,263 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,063,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,912,000 after purchasing an additional 505,180 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $34.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.58.

Insider Activity at Kraft Heinz

In other Kraft Heinz news, insider Cory Onell sold 4,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $5,182,920. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.32% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of KHC stock traded down $0.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $34.90. The company had a trading volume of 1,788,072 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,715,250. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.49. The Kraft Heinz Company has a one year low of $31.08 and a one year high of $38.96. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.87.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.55 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.38% and a net margin of 7.30%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, August 30th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.87%.

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.