Kraft Heinz Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:KHC)

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 35,421 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 68% compared to the typical volume of 21,088 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at $5,626,122.75. The trade was a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 14.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,097,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,519,000 after buying an additional 138,101 shares during the period. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 69,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,434,000 after acquiring an additional 8,785 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 190,799 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,699,000 after purchasing an additional 16,690 shares in the last quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp raised its stake in Kraft Heinz by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 59,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,091,000 after purchasing an additional 7,004 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.5% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 84,675 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,973,000 after purchasing an additional 2,889 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Kraft Heinz stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $30.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,071,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,232,840. Kraft Heinz has a 12 month low of $30.01 and a 12 month high of $38.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $32.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.54. The company has a market capitalization of $37.00 billion, a PE ratio of 27.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.48.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.72 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.23%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KHC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.55.

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.