Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Shares of The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $27.21 and last traded at $27.28, with a volume of 1783532 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KHC shares. StockNews.com raised Kraft Heinz from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $27.00 price objective (down previously from $28.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Friday, April 4th. DZ Bank lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.65.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.06. The company has a market capitalization of $32.54 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.30.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $6 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.02 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.69 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Kraft Heinz Company will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is presently 73.06%.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $2,779,524,000 after buying an additional 14,996,486 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter worth approximately $324,857,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 4,390.7% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,444,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,523,000 after buying an additional 7,278,295 shares during the period. Southeastern Asset Management Inc. TN bought a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,080,000. Finally, Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 341.9% during the 4th quarter. Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Can now owns 3,314,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,773,000 after buying an additional 2,564,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.