Brokerages Set The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Price Target at $35.23

Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.23.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on KHC. Stifel Nicolaus cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and set a $35.00 price objective (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $29.07 on Friday. Kraft Heinz has a 1 year low of $28.37 and a 1 year high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $35.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.16.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. Kraft Heinz’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.50%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is 144.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kraft Heinz

In other Kraft Heinz news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares in the company, valued at $5,626,122.75. This represents a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,350,000 after purchasing an additional 545,504 shares during the period. Clifford Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 21.4% during the second quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 454,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,656,000 after purchasing an additional 80,101 shares during the period. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 52.5% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 170,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,988,000 after buying an additional 58,665 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 229.8% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 342,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,530,000 after buying an additional 238,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 39.4% during the third quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 157,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,529,000 after buying an additional 44,485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

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.