Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft Boosts Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Price Target to $43.00

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) had its target price lifted by Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from $42.00 to $43.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on KHC. Citigroup initiated coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a buy rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $40.57.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $37.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.41. Kraft Heinz has a 52-week low of $30.68 and a 52-week high of $41.47.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 7.42%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. Kraft Heinz’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently 69.26%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,398,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,603,349,000 after purchasing an additional 183,234 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 4.4% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 33,344,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,313,427,000 after buying an additional 1,397,795 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,601,098 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,581,000 after buying an additional 2,369,080 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 1,835.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,527,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,964,000 after acquiring an additional 18,518,584 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,062,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $581,169,000 after acquiring an additional 161,170 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

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.