Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Sets New 1-Year Low Following Analyst Downgrade

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week low on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $31.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Kraft Heinz traded as low as $29.97 and last traded at $30.13, with a volume of 800986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.05.

KHC has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $35.00 price target (down previously from $40.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "in-line" rating and set a $35.00 price target (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $35.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kraft Heinz

In other news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.32% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 47,000 shares of the company's stock worth $1,443,000 after purchasing an additional 12,000 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $269,906,000 after buying an additional 1,238,200 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 40.7% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,082 shares of the company's stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 602 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 14.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,097,084 shares of the company's stock worth $38,519,000 after acquiring an additional 138,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 14.5% in the third quarter. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL now owns 69,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,434,000 after acquiring an additional 8,785 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

The business's 50-day simple moving average is $31.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.43. 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 firm has a market cap of $36.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.48.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $6.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.37%. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is presently 144.14%.

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.