Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Shares Up 5.1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) were up 5.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $32.48 and last traded at $32.47. Approximately 5,555,799 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 45% from the average daily volume of 10,083,079 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.88.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $28.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Mizuho lowered Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 3.8 %

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.33. The stock has a market cap of $38.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. Equities research analysts expect that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 70.80%.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KHC. Sawyer & Company Inc purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the third quarter worth $33,000. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.