The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $35.23.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $35.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of Kraft Heinz stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,626,122.75. This trade represents a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter worth $411,304,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,558,898,000 after buying an additional 6,366,732 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,019 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 47.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,536,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $178,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Kraft Heinz stock opened at $29.07 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.16. Kraft Heinz has a twelve month low of $28.37 and a twelve month high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.72 EPS. Kraft Heinz’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is 144.14%.

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.