Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Cut to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on KHC. Evercore set a $24.00 target price on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane raised their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Weiss Ratings cut Kraft Heinz from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BTIG Research began coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $23.62.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $24.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.77. Kraft Heinz has a 12-month low of $21.03 and a 12-month high of $28.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.72 and a beta of 0.08.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.18 billion. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.10% and a negative net margin of 13.64%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.030-2.090 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.4%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently -55.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kraft Heinz

In other news, insider Diana Frost sold 18,502 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total value of $426,471.10. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 102,667 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,474.35. This trade represents a 15.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Jessup Wealth Management Inc bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) is a global food and beverage company formed in 2015 through the merger of Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Company. The combination created one of the largest packaged-food companies in the world, built around well-known consumer brands. The merger was supported by major investors and established a multi-national platform for branded food products.

Kraft Heinz develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad portfolio of branded packaged foods and condiments.