Analysts Set The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Target Price at $30.73

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $30.67.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on KHC shares. Bank of America lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an “underweight” rating and a $29.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after buying an additional 14,996,486 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,558,898,000 after acquiring an additional 6,366,732 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,745,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,644,000 after acquiring an additional 595,406 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth approximately $324,857,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,289,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,885 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $29.68 on Friday. Kraft Heinz has a fifty-two week low of $27.25 and a fifty-two week high of $38.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $35.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.51.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Kraft Heinz will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.80%.

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.