Bank of America Raises Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Price Target to $42.00

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Free Report) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $40.00 to $42.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the stock.

KHC has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a buy rating and a $43.00 price target on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $40.71.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $36.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,990,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,163,664. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.67. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $35.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.99. Kraft Heinz has a fifty-two week low of $30.68 and a fifty-two week high of $41.47.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The business's revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.26%.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1,835.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 19,527,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $794,964,000 after acquiring an additional 18,518,584 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 96.5% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,312,000 shares of the company's stock worth $524,360,000 after purchasing an additional 6,537,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at about $252,224,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 10.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 24,601,098 shares of the company's stock valued at $827,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,369,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 86.0% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,627,569 shares of the company's stock worth $155,671,000 after purchasing an additional 2,140,153 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.