Analyzing Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) & Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ)

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) and Utz Brands (NYSE:UTZ) are both consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, valuation, dividends, earnings and profitability.

Dividends

Kraft Heinz pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.9%. Utz Brands pays an annual dividend of $0.25 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.5%. Kraft Heinz pays out -32.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Utz Brands pays out -250.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Utz Brands has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.

Risk and Volatility

Kraft Heinz has a beta of 0.06, indicating that its stock price is 94% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Utz Brands has a beta of 0.87, indicating that its stock price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

78.2% of Kraft Heinz shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.0% of Utz Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 0.2% of Kraft Heinz shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of Utz Brands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Kraft Heinz and Utz Brands’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kraft Heinz	-23.05%	7.26%	3.70%
Utz Brands	-0.58%	8.61%	4.17%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Kraft Heinz and Utz Brands, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kraft Heinz	4	15	0	1	1.90
Utz Brands	1	3	4	0	2.38

Kraft Heinz currently has a consensus price target of $23.06, suggesting a potential downside of 1.06%. Utz Brands has a consensus price target of $12.06, suggesting a potential upside of 70.18%. Given Utz Brands’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Utz Brands is more favorable than Kraft Heinz.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Kraft Heinz and Utz Brands”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kraft Heinz	$24.94 billion	1.11	-$5.85 billion	($4.86)	-4.80
Utz Brands	$1.44 billion	0.71	$800,000.00	($0.10)	-70.84

Utz Brands has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Kraft Heinz. Utz Brands is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kraft Heinz, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Utz Brands beats Kraft Heinz on 13 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Kraft Heinz

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. It sells its products through its own sales organizations, as well as through independent brokers, agents, and distributors to chain, wholesale, cooperative, and independent grocery accounts; convenience, value, and club stores; pharmacies and drug stores; mass merchants; foodservice distributors; institutions, including hotels, restaurants, bakeries, hospitals, health care facilities, and government agencies; and online through various e-commerce platforms and retailers. The company was formerly known as H.J. Heinz Holding Corporation and changed its name to The Kraft Heinz Company in July 2015. The Kraft Heinz Company was founded in 1869 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

About Utz Brands

Utz Brands, Inc. engages in manufacture, marketing, and distribution of snack foods. It offers a range of salty snacks, including salty snacks, including potato chips, tortilla chips, pretzels, cheese snacks, pork skins, veggie snacks, pub/party mixes, tortilla chips, salsa and dips, ready-to-eat popcorn, and other snacks under the Utz, Zapp’s, ON THE BORDER, Golden Flake, Boulder Canyon, Hawaiian, TORTIYAHS!, etc. The company sells its products to wholesale and other distributors, grocery stores, convenience and drug stores, discount stores, mass merchandisers, membership club stores, hard discounters, and specialty and e-commerce retailers. Utz Brands, Inc. was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Hanover, Pennsylvania.