UBS Group Cuts Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Price Target to $31.00

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) had its target price decreased by UBS Group from $37.00 to $31.00 in a report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on KHC. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $38.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Mizuho cut their target price on Kraft Heinz from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.23.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $29.27 on Thursday. Kraft Heinz has a 52-week low of $28.37 and a 52-week high of $38.96. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.80 and a 200 day moving average of $33.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.48.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. Kraft Heinz’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.47%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is presently 144.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kraft Heinz

In other news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. This trade represents a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KHC. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,307,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,350,000 after purchasing an additional 545,504 shares during the period. Clifford Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 21.4% in the second quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 454,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,656,000 after purchasing an additional 80,101 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 52.5% during the third quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 170,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,988,000 after buying an additional 58,665 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 229.8% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 342,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,530,000 after buying an additional 238,913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Easterly Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC now owns 157,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,529,000 after buying an additional 44,485 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.