The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Receives $40.57 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.57.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on KHC shares. Citigroup started coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of KHC stock opened at $38.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.99. Kraft Heinz has a 1 year low of $30.68 and a 1 year high of $41.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $36.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.64 billion, a PE ratio of 16.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.67.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KHC. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 10.7% during the third 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 period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 86.0% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,627,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $155,671,000 after buying an additional 2,140,153 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 27.1% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,263,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,621,000 after buying an additional 1,977,571 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 3,167.3% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,869,778 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,198,000 after buying an additional 1,812,551 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 7.2% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 12,580,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $423,216,000 after buying an additional 850,326 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is 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.