The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Rating) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $41.91.

KHC has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Exane BNP Paribas started coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, November 15th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Kraft Heinz from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 6th. UBS Group upgraded Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Kraft Heinz from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $43.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Sunday, October 9th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 67,502,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,251,197,000 after purchasing an additional 8,948,708 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 25.3% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 56,572,464 shares of the company's stock worth $1,886,694,000 after buying an additional 11,428,520 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 8.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 36,736,098 shares of the company's stock worth $1,225,149,000 after buying an additional 2,789,561 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 6.6% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,346,439 shares of the company's stock worth $585,314,000 after buying an additional 943,921 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 96.5% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,312,000 shares of the company's stock worth $524,360,000 after buying an additional 6,537,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.80% of the company's stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Kraft Heinz stock opened at $40.71 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $38.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.55. The company has a market capitalization of $49.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.54, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.77. Kraft Heinz has a fifty-two week low of $32.73 and a fifty-two week high of $44.87.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 26th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.08. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 6.84% and a net margin of 4.71%. The company had revenue of $6.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.30 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, November 25th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, November 23rd. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 163.27%.

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets food and beverage products in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its products include condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, refreshment beverages, coffee, and other grocery products.

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