Kraft Heinz Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:KHC)

Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 83,191 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 165% compared to the typical daily volume of 31,365 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KHC. BNP Paribas Exane boosted their price target on Kraft Heinz from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays upped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Kraft Heinz from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $25.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $23.33.

Insider Activity at Kraft Heinz

In other news, insider Diana Frost sold 18,502 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total transaction of $426,471.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 102,667 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,366,474.35. This represents a 15.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz during the second quarter valued at $1,803,911,000. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2,805.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,073,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,289,000 after buying an additional 36,762,849 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,725,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $478,347,000 after buying an additional 1,870,310 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3,034.1% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 16,477,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,957,000 after acquiring an additional 15,951,271 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth about $332,382,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC stock opened at $24.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.68. Kraft Heinz has a 1 year low of $21.03 and a 1 year high of $28.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.47 and a 200 day moving average of $23.97. The company has a market cap of $28.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.53, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.09.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.10% and a negative net margin of 13.64%.The business had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.18 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.030-2.090 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.6%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently -55.94%.

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) is a global food and beverage company that develops, manufactures and markets branded products for consumers, retailers, foodservice operators and other customers. Its portfolio includes condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, beverages, snacks and other packaged foods.

The company’s well-known brands include Kraft, Heinz, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Velveeta, Lunchables, Capri Sun, Jell-O, Maxwell House and Classico, among others.