Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) Cut to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $62.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $75.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on MDLZ. Citigroup cut their target price on Mondelez International from $78.00 to $71.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Mondelez International from $80.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Mondelez International from $75.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $76.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Mondelez International from $79.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $73.81.

Mondelez International Stock Performance

NASDAQ MDLZ opened at $56.96 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $61.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.63 and a quick ratio of 0.42. Mondelez International has a 52-week low of $55.97 and a 52-week high of $77.20.

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $9.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.11 billion. Mondelez International had a return on equity of 17.53% and a net margin of 10.58%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Mondelez International will post 3.46 EPS for the current year.

Mondelez International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, January 14th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Mondelez International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.67%.

Mondelez International declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, December 11th that authorizes the company to repurchase $9.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 10.7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Mondelez International

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MDLZ. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Mondelez International in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Mondelez International in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in Mondelez International by 100.0% in the third quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Highline Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in Mondelez International in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Mondelez International during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 78.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Mondelez International Company Profile

Mondelez International, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures, markets, and sells snack food and beverage products in the Latin America, North America, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Europe. It provides biscuits and baked snacks, including cookies, crackers, salted snacks, snack bars, and cakes and pastries; chocolates; and gums and candies, as well as various cheese and grocery, and powdered beverage products.