Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC)

Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 82,130 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 189% compared to the average daily volume of 28,427 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KHC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Evercore set a $24.00 target price on Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Kraft Heinz from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kraft Heinz has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $23.62.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

NASDAQ:KHC traded down $0.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $24.55. The company had a trading volume of 12,262,117 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,037,105. The firm has a market cap of $29.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.58 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $25.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.91. Kraft Heinz has a 52 week low of $21.03 and a 52 week high of $28.09.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.03. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.10% and a negative net margin of 13.64%.The firm had revenue of $6.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.18 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.69 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.030-2.090 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 2.06 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.5%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is presently -55.94%.

Insider Transactions at Kraft Heinz

In related news, insider Diana Frost sold 18,502 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.05, for a total value of $426,471.10. Following the transaction, the insider owned 102,667 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,474.35. The trade was a 15.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Kraft Heinz in the second quarter worth approximately $1,803,911,000. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 2,805.5% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 38,073,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $899,289,000 after purchasing an additional 36,762,849 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3,034.1% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 16,477,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,957,000 after purchasing an additional 15,951,271 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth $332,382,000. Finally, Nykredit A S purchased a new position in Kraft Heinz during the second quarter valued at $181,408,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) is a global food and beverage company formed in 2015 through the merger of Kraft Foods Group and H.J. Heinz Company. The combination created one of the largest packaged-food companies in the world, built around well-known consumer brands. The merger was supported by major investors and established a multi-national platform for branded food products.

Kraft Heinz develops, manufactures, markets and distributes a broad portfolio of branded packaged foods and condiments.