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

Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 89,861 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 177% compared to the average volume of 32,448 call options.

Kraft Heinz Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock traded down $0.72 on Wednesday, hitting $22.73. The stock had a trading volume of 12,493,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,950,942. The company has a quick ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Kraft Heinz has a one year low of $21.03 and a one year high of $28.09. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.96. The stock has a market cap of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.95, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.09.

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

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 4th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is -55.94%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KHC. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $32.00 price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, September 24th. BNP Paribas Exane lifted their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut Kraft Heinz from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $25.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $23.88.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the second quarter worth about $1,803,911,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth approximately $332,382,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 77.8% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,973,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,599,000 after buying an additional 3,926,141 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 8,802,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,454,000 after buying an additional 1,167,964 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 7.3% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,270,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,494,000 after buying an additional 633,645 shares during the period. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kraft Heinz

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) is a global food and beverage company that develops, manufactures and markets packaged foods and beverages for consumers, retailers and foodservice customers. Its portfolio includes condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, snacks, beverages and other grocery items.

The company’s brands include Heinz, Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Velveeta, Lunchables, Maxwell House, Capri Sun, Jell-O, Ore-Ida, Classico, Grey Poupon and Planters.