Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $27.25 and last traded at $28.21, with a volume of 2707896 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $29.58.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KHC shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.36.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $34.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.83.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. On average, analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 3 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.61%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 144.14%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,779,524,000 after acquiring an additional 14,996,486 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz during the third quarter valued at $411,304,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at $324,857,000. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,366,732 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,019 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.