Calamos Advisors LLC, a financial advisor based in the United States, has recently shorn a significant segment of its stock in The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC), one of America’s premier food processing giants. According to recent reports filed by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Calamos Advisors LLC divested its stake in Kraft Heinz for $10,370,000 during the fourth quarter of 2016, reducing its holding by 15% after disposing of 45,036 shares.
Meanwhile, EVP Flavio Torres has managed to create ripples within the company over his recent sale of a sizeable number of stocks valued at $9.9 million on February 16th. Mr. Torres sold 250,571 shares at an average price point of $39.58 bringing the total value of his transaction to nearly $10 million.
Flavio Torres is not alone in this selling frenzy as fellow executive Melissa Werneck also sold some Kraft Heinz shares off her portfolio for $148,365 earlier this year.
These transactions have had a profound impact on Kraft Heinz Company pushing its market cap down to $48 billion from an earlier figure that took it closer to $50 billion. The company’s share price showed little influence from these sales going forward and opened at around $39.14 recently.
Kraft Heinz has seen better days regarding their earnings per share (EPS) and dividend payouts as both figures have decreased over time; however, their P/E ratio presently stands at 20.49x indicating bright future prospects for investors who don’t mind taking a risk!
As we move ahead into uncertain times where markets are swinging wildly between bearish and bullish trends triggered by various geopolitical factors like Brexit or Trump administration policies towards Mexico or overseas demand-supply fluctuations impacting commodities prices worldwide; potential investors may need more than just organizational restructuring strategies or successful mergers with food titans to bank on a stock for long-term gains. However, with Kraft Heinz being one of the largest food processing manufacturers in America with considerable market power stemming from their product diversity and geographic reach across the country, this company may just be a great investment for savvy investors looking to take advantage of an increasingly globalized economy.
Kraft Heinz Executives Sell Shares, Hedge Funds Increase Ownership
Kraft Heinz, the global food and beverage company, has recently been probed by a number of research analyst reports after executives have significantly reduced their stakes in the company, causing concerns among some investors. EVP Flavio Torres sold 250,571 shares of Kraft Heinz stock later last month for $39.58 apiece, bringing the a total of $9.92m cash to the executive. Following this transaction, Torres still holds almost 189k shares worth approximately $7.5m. Also notable was EVP Melissa Werneck who disposed of 3,500 shares for $42.39 each in January.
The decreasing stake held by top executives in the company comes as many hedge funds have increased their ownership of KHC; some have added stocks to their portfolios while others have downsized positions during Q3 2016 according to recent filings with the SEC.
In response to these insider exits from The Kraft Heinz Company’s stock, its share prices dipped slightly mid-February but seems to have leveled out again.The company recently announced earnings per share (EPS) for Q4 2016 that beat its consensus estimate by 7 cts at $0.85 EPS on sales revenue of $7.38bn – this was up from analysts’ prediction by more than +10% YoY.
As for investors unsure about buying into Kraft Heinz right now; Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on the firm’s equity underweighting it with a price target set at $43 per share last month.
Kraft Heinz had recently disclosed a quarterly dividend which was paid on March 31st with an annualised payout ratio rateof almost 84%.
