The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Short Interest Up 6.8% in March

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,410,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the March 15th total of 20,990,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Kraft Heinz stock opened at $36.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.54. Kraft Heinz has a 1-year low of $30.68 and a 1-year high of $41.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.86 and its 200 day moving average is $35.30.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.99 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 7.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.85 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KHC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.71.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,398,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,603,349,000 after purchasing an additional 183,234 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 4.4% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,344,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,313,427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,397,795 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 10.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,601,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,080 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,835.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,527,499 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,964,000 after purchasing an additional 18,518,584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1.1% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,062,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $581,169,000 after purchasing an additional 161,170 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.