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

Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) have been assigned an average rating of “Hold” from the fourteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $33.36.

KHC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

KHC opened at $28.62 on Thursday. Kraft Heinz has a twelve month low of $27.25 and a twelve month high of $38.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $30.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.83.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.59%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after acquiring an additional 14,996,486 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $411,304,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at $324,857,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,366,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Company 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.