Brokerages Set The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) PT at $40.57

Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.57.

KHC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI upgraded Kraft Heinz from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

KHC opened at $36.90 on Monday. Kraft Heinz has a 12-month low of $30.68 and a 12-month high of $41.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $35.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently 69.26%.

Insider Activity

In other Kraft Heinz news, Director Miguel Patricio sold 131,500 shares of Kraft Heinz stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.02, for a total transaction of $4,999,630.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 992,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,717,702.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.32% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Steward Partners Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Ancora Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 69.9% in the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, O Dell Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently 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.