Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Cut to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Friday.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI restated an "in-line" rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of KHC stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.32. The stock had a trading volume of 11,782,597 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,966,394. Kraft Heinz has a 1-year low of $27.25 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The firm has a market cap of $35.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.41, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business's fifty day moving average is $29.85 and its 200-day moving average is $32.67.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. On average, research analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 3 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, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is 144.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 19.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after purchasing an additional 14,996,486 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,558,898,000 after buying an additional 6,366,732 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,745,734 shares of the company's stock worth $604,644,000 after buying an additional 595,406 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $411,304,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $324,857,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company's stock.

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.