The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Brokerages

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) has received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.65.

KHC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho cut shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Cfra Research cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ KHC opened at $26.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a market capitalization of $31.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.30. Kraft Heinz has a 12-month low of $26.01 and a 12-month high of $36.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.97.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $6 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 73.06%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,779,524,000 after acquiring an additional 14,996,486 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth $324,857,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 4,390.7% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,444,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,523,000 after acquiring an additional 7,278,295 shares in the last quarter. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN bought a new position in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter worth $87,080,000. Finally, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can boosted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 341.9% during the fourth quarter. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can now owns 3,314,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,773,000 after acquiring an additional 2,564,000 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by 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.