Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Earns “In-Line” Rating from Evercore ISI

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC)‘s stock had its “in-line” rating restated by stock analysts at Evercore ISI in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $35.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $38.00. Evercore ISI’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 18.00% from the company’s current price.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $32.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.58.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $29.66 on Tuesday. Kraft Heinz has a 12-month low of $29.23 and a 12-month high of $38.96. 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 company has a market cap of $35.86 billion, a PE ratio of 26.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.38.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The company had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 3.01 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total transaction of $1,505,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. The trade was a 21.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KHC. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the third quarter worth $411,304,000. State Street Corp increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after purchasing an additional 6,366,732 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,821,000 after purchasing an additional 1,944,019 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 47.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,536,214 shares of the company’s stock valued at $178,379,000 after buying an additional 1,778,263 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.3% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,813,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,906,000 after buying an additional 1,238,200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.