The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Short Interest Update

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,410,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the March 15th total of 20,990,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 8,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on KHC shares. Bank of America increased their price target on Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.71.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 23.4% in the fourth quarter. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 69.9% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Welch Group LLC grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 1.9% during the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 14,868 shares of the company’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 13.2% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 2,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 14,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $36.59 on Wednesday. Kraft Heinz has a 1 year low of $30.68 and a 1 year high of $41.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $35.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.32. The firm has a market cap of $44.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.84, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.42% and a net margin of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.26%.

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.