Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report published on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently commented on KHC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Kraft Heinz from $27.00 to $26.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $30.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $26.63.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ KHC opened at $24.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $28.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.54 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Kraft Heinz has a twelve month low of $23.60 and a twelve month high of $33.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.98.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 8th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $6.39 billion for the quarter. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.26% and a negative net margin of 17.35%. Sell-side analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is -42.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kraft Heinz

In other news, insider Miguel Patricio sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.82, for a total transaction of $3,102,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 686,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,046,797.94. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ancora Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 26.6% during the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 4,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 1.3% during the first quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 898,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,353,000 after buying an additional 11,121 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 6.8% in the first quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 348,862 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,616,000 after buying an additional 22,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 19.8% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,490,791 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,358,000 after buying an additional 246,903 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) is a global food and beverage company formed in 2015 through the merger of Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Company. The combination created one of the largest packaged-food companies in the world, built around well-known consumer brands. The merger was supported by major investors and established a multi-national platform for branded food products.

Kraft Heinz develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad portfolio of branded packaged foods and condiments.