5 Best Defensive Stocks Under $50

3. The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 41

Share Price as of August 23: $38.76

On July 21, The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) reported fiscal Q2 earnings per share of $0.70 to beat estimates by $0.02. The company’s revenue for the quarter came in at $6.55 billion, ahead of the Wall Street consensus by $191 million. Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) have soared by 7.33% year-to-date, as of August 23.

On July 27, The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.40 per share. The dividend is payable on September 23 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 26. As of August 23, the stock offers a forward dividend yield of 4.15%, which the company supports with $3.2 billion in free cash flows.

On July 28, Stifel analyst Christopher Growe upgraded The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold’ and reiterated his price target of $43. The analyst likes the company’s solid and improving operations and sees continued international growth driving further upside for the stock.

Hedge fund sentiment towards KHC was positive in Q2. At the close of the quarter, 41 hedge funds were long The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) with stakes worth $13.6 billion. This is compared to 35 positions in the previous quarter with stakes worth $13.4 billion. As of June 30, Berkshire Hathaway owns roughly 325 million shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) and is the largest shareholder in the company. The investment covers 4.13% of Warren Buffett’s 13F portfolio.