Stifel Nicolaus Lowers Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) to Hold

Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has $38.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $40.00.

KHC has been the subject of a number of other reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $41.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $39.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.58.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $35.13 on Friday. Kraft Heinz has a fifty-two week low of $31.08 and a fifty-two week high of $38.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.49. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $35.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.87.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.05. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 7.30% and a return on equity of 7.38%. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.79 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast 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 was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.55%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is 69.87%.

Insider Activity at Kraft Heinz

In other Kraft Heinz news, insider Cory Onell sold 4,076 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $146,736.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 143,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,182,920. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 249.5% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the first quarter worth $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 1,077.0% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 94.8% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bangor Savings Bank bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter worth $32,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.