Brokerages Set The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) PT at $40.57

Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.57.

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup initiated coverage on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price target for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Kraft Heinz from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $36.53 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $44.41 billion, a PE ratio of 15.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.67. Kraft Heinz has a 1 year low of $30.68 and a 1 year high of $41.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.00.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its 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 company’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 69.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Miguel Patricio sold 131,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.02, for a total value of $4,999,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 992,049 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,717,702.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 69.9% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 661 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Steward Partners Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, O Dell Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

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.