The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) has earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and twelve have issued a hold recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $30.86.

KHC has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $29.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.18, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.60. Kraft Heinz has a fifty-two week low of $27.25 and a fifty-two week high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 7.58%. Equities research analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.37%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.80%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KHC. Sawyer & Company Inc acquired a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its stake in Kraft Heinz by 249.5% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 741 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Kraft Heinz

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.