Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Hits New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $31.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Kraft Heinz traded as low as $29.97 and last traded at $30.13, with a volume of 800986 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.05.

Several other brokerages have also commented on KHC. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.32% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KHC. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at about $411,304,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,821,000 after buying an additional 1,944,019 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 47.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,536,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,379,000 after buying an additional 1,778,263 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,906,000 after buying an additional 1,238,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $36.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.49 and its 200 day moving average is $33.41.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.72 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

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.