Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts remain cautious on Kraft Heinz: Eighteen firms give the stock a consensus “Reduce” rating, with five sells, twelve holds and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $23.63, below the reported $25.51 share price.
• Kraft Heinz beat quarterly expectations with $0.56 EPS versus $0.53 expected and $6.26 billion in revenue, though revenue declined 1.4% year over year and earnings fell from $0.69 per share a year earlier.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.40, or $1.60 annualized, implying a 6.3% yield; institutional investors own 78.17% of the stock, while an insider recently reduced holdings by selling 18,502 shares.

Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Reduce" by the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $23.6250.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KHC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Kraft Heinz from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Evercore set a $24.00 price objective on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings cut Kraft Heinz from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Kraft Heinz from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Kraft Heinz from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Kraft Heinz stock opened at $25.51 on Monday. Kraft Heinz has a fifty-two week low of $21.03 and a fifty-two week high of $28.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a current ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $30.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.92 and a beta of 0.08. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $24.86 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.83.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 negative net margin of 13.64% and a positive return on equity of 7.10%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.69 earnings per share. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.030-2.090 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 4th. Kraft Heinz's payout ratio is presently -55.94%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Diana Frost sold 18,502 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total value of $426,471.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 102,667 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,366,474.35. This represents a 15.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wallace Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the second quarter worth $434,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the second quarter valued at about $22,066,000. Man Group plc bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the second quarter valued at about $34,707,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the second quarter worth about $2,538,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the second quarter worth about $49,015,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company's stock.

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.

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