The Kraft Heinz Company Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.40 (NASDAQ:KHC)

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 29th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, May 30th will be given a dividend of 0.40 per share on Friday, June 27th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th.

Kraft Heinz has a dividend payout ratio of 57.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Kraft Heinz to earn $2.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.7%.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of KHC stock traded down $0.60 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $28.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,685,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,130,056. Kraft Heinz has a fifty-two week low of $27.25 and a fifty-two week high of $37.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $29.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $30.75. The company has a market capitalization of $34.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.44.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. Kraft Heinz's revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.69 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KHC. StockNews.com raised shares of Kraft Heinz from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Citigroup reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research note on Monday, March 24th. They set an "underweight" rating and a $29.00 price target on the stock. Cfra Research lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Kraft Heinz from a "buy" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.63.

About Kraft Heinz

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.