The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the fourteen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and twelve have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.86.

Several brokerages have issued reports on KHC. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $35.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Kraft Heinz stock opened at $32.18 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $29.85 and its 200 day moving average is $32.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $38.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. Kraft Heinz has a one year low of $27.25 and a one year high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. As a group, research analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.97%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,097,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,519,000 after purchasing an additional 138,101 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 97,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Personal Financial Services now owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 2,577 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 36.3% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 41,959 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 11,185 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.