The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Short Interest Update

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 36,380,000 shares, a decrease of 9.8% from the January 15th total of 40,330,000 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 10,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,350,000 after buying an additional 545,504 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 52.5% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 170,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,988,000 after acquiring an additional 58,665 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 229.8% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 342,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,530,000 after acquiring an additional 238,913 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 157,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,529,000 after acquiring an additional 44,485 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 12.6% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 487,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,132,000 after acquiring an additional 54,656 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $28.92 on Tuesday. Kraft Heinz has a 1 year low of $27.25 and a 1 year high of $38.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.97 billion, a PE ratio of 26.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $29.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.72.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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, equities research analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on KHC. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Mizuho downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.86.

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.