Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Cut to “Neutral” at Citigroup

Citigroup cut shares of Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $28.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $34.00.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho downgraded Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Kraft Heinz from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

KHC stock opened at $28.92 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $29.90 and a 200-day moving average of $32.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.47. Kraft Heinz has a 12 month low of $27.25 and a 12 month high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 5.24% and a return on equity of 7.46%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kraft Heinz will post 3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.53%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.14%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 14,996,486 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $411,304,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $324,857,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after acquiring an additional 6,366,732 shares during the period. Finally, Criteria Caixa S.A.U. bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter valued at $73,316,000. Institutional investors 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.