Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage issued a sell rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock.

KHC has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays raised their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $37.31.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ KHC opened at $34.49 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $41.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.61. Kraft Heinz has a 12 month low of $30.68 and a 12 month high of $38.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $33.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.17.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.05. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.38% and a net margin of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Kraft Heinz will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.64%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is 69.87%.

Insider Activity

In other Kraft Heinz news, insider Cory Onell sold 4,076 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $146,736.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 143,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,182,920. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,398,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,603,349,000 after purchasing an additional 183,234 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2.1% during the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,107,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,450,000 after purchasing an additional 189,000 shares during the period. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 83.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,709,714 shares of the company’s stock worth $321,388,000 after purchasing an additional 3,961,872 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 47.3% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,536,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,379,000 after purchasing an additional 1,778,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,577,285 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,268,000 after purchasing an additional 137,169 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.