Kraft Heinz Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NASDAQ:KHC)

Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors purchased 52,568 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 97% compared to the typical daily volume of 26,713 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on KHC. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $30.00 to $27.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. BNP Paribas Exane reduced their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Kraft Heinz from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $26.63.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 113,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,467,000 after purchasing an additional 6,869 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 24.9% in the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 323,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,834,000 after acquiring an additional 64,449 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 16,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $501,000 after buying an additional 706 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,875,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,201,000 after acquiring an additional 350,067 shares during the period. Finally, Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 101.0% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 613,505 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,672,000 after buying an additional 308,273 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of KHC traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.68. 18,668,709 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,473,562. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Kraft Heinz has a fifty-two week low of $23.70 and a fifty-two week high of $33.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $24.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.62 and a beta of 0.09.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 8th. The company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.26% and a negative net margin of 17.35%.The firm had revenue of $6.39 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently -42.90%.

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.