Kraft Heinz Company $KHC Stock Bought by Gradient Investments LLC

Key Points

• Gradient Investments increased its Kraft Heinz position by 11.8% in the third quarter, acquiring 70,534 additional shares for a total of 667,877 shares valued at approximately $15.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 78.17% of KHC.
• Analysts remain cautious, with a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $23.75; one analyst rates the stock Buy, 11 rate it Hold, and five rate it Sell.
• Kraft Heinz exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, reporting $0.56 in adjusted EPS and $6.26 billion in revenue, but revenue declined 1.4% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share, representing a 7.1% annualized yield.

Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) by 11.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 667,877 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 70,534 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC owned 0.06% of Kraft Heinz worth $15,174,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KHC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,803,911,000. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 77.8% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,973,146 shares of the company's stock worth $217,599,000 after buying an additional 3,926,141 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,270,503 shares of the company's stock worth $208,494,000 after buying an additional 633,645 shares during the period. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 2nd quarter worth $181,408,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 2nd quarter worth $179,876,000. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on KHC. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Barclays increased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $32.00 target price on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Evercore set a $24.00 price target on Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $23.75.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of KHC stock opened at $22.47 on Friday. Kraft Heinz Company has a 12-month low of $21.03 and a 12-month high of $28.09. 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's 50-day moving average price is $24.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.12.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 4th. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio is currently -55.94%.

Kraft Heinz Profile

The Kraft Heinz Company NASDAQ: KHC is a global food and beverage company that develops, manufactures and markets packaged foods and beverages for consumers, retailers and foodservice customers. Its portfolio includes condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, snacks, beverages and other grocery items.

The company's brands include Heinz, Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Velveeta, Lunchables, Maxwell House, Capri Sun, Jell-O, Ore-Ida, Classico, Grey Poupon and Planters.

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