JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cuts Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Price Target to $24.00

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $25.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. BNP Paribas Exane lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $22.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday. HSBC decreased their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $29.00 to $27.00 in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $28.00 to $25.00 in a report on Friday, January 9th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $26.16.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC stock opened at $23.20 on Wednesday. Kraft Heinz has a 1 year low of $21.99 and a 1 year high of $33.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.46 billion, a PE ratio of -6.22 and a beta of 0.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.71.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.27 billion. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.26% and a negative net margin of 17.35%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.75 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.500-2.57 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 28th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.9%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is presently -42.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Miguel Patricio sold 125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.82, for a total transaction of $3,102,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 686,817 shares in the company, valued at $17,046,797.94. This trade represents a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,435,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,644,890,000 after acquiring an additional 454,868 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,376,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,197,438,000 after purchasing an additional 462,963 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,446,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $681,663,000 after buying an additional 3,392,470 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,855,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,953,000 after buying an additional 270,678 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 13,801,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,134,000 after buying an additional 106,970 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Kraft Heinz

Here are the key news stories impacting Kraft Heinz this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call-option volume — Traders bought roughly 72,473 call options in a single session, a ~158% jump versus average daily call volume, suggesting speculative or hedged bullish positioning that can lift near-term demand for the shares. Options Activity Report
• Positive Sentiment: Short-term market beat — Coverage noting the stock “lapped the market” points to modest positive momentum in recent sessions, which can attract momentum traders after the sell-off. KHC Laps the Market
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional pressure/ownership changes — Analysis pieces argue institutional holders may be at a “tipping point” and discuss implications if big holders shift strategy; useful context but not immediate catalysts on their own. Institutional Investors Tipping Point
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysis on Berkshire’s role — Articles examining whether Berkshire is “out of the equation” provide strategic context for valuation and buyout/speculation narratives; they inform longer-term investor views rather than cause immediate price moves. Berkshire May Be Out Of The Equation
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrade by Exane/BNP Paribas — The firm cut KHC to an underperform/strong-sell view, a catalyst for selling pressure and weaker sentiment among income/value managers. Rating Lowered to Underperform at BNP Paribas Exane
• Negative Sentiment: Pessimistic JPMorgan forecast — JPMorgan published a downbeat outlook for KHC’s stock price, adding to analyst-driven headwinds and reinforcing downside expectations. JPMorgan Issues Pessimistic Forecast
• Negative Sentiment: Berkshire stake sale and share-price impact — Reports that Berkshire may sell a large stake (and related coverage that Buffett’s successor is moving on the position) have driven a sharp decline and pushed shares to multi‑year lows, a major negative fundamental/headline catalyst. Shares Hit Six-Year Low on Berkshire’s Potential Stake Sale

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

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.