Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Downgraded by Bank of America to Underperform

Bank of America cut shares of Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) from a buy rating to an underperform rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $30.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $36.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.29.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $29.25 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Kraft Heinz has a 1-year low of $27.25 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $29.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.80.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $411,304,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $324,857,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,558,898,000 after buying an additional 6,366,732 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,821,000 after buying an additional 1,944,019 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.