Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The company traded as low as $30.98 and last traded at $31.13, with a volume of 1235656 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KHC. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $41.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.00.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 2.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $37.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.49. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $34.53 and a 200-day moving average of $34.46. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.14%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of Kraft Heinz stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at $5,626,122.75. The trade was a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,077.0% in the third quarter. DiNuzzo Private Wealth Inc. now owns 871 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 94.8% in the second quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

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.