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

Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders bought 64,080 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 113% compared to the typical daily volume of 30,020 call options.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of KHC traded down $0.29 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $21.29. The stock had a trading volume of 11,979,981 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,864,895. Kraft Heinz has a 52 week low of $21.08 and a 52 week high of $31.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.62. The firm has a market cap of $25.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.31 and a beta of 0.06.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a negative net margin of 23.44% and a positive return on equity of 7.07%. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.84 EPS. Kraft Heinz’s revenue was down 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.100 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -32.39%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cory Onell sold 9,045 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.61, for a total transaction of $222,597.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 202,454 shares in the company, valued at $4,982,392.94. This represents a 4.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.35% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 102,933,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,496,131,000 after buying an additional 616,283 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 46,376,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,197,438,000 after acquiring an additional 462,963 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 19,725,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $478,347,000 after acquiring an additional 1,870,310 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 3,034.1% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 16,477,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,957,000 after acquiring an additional 15,951,271 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 13,801,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,134,000 after acquiring an additional 106,970 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KHC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $23.00 price target on Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $24.67.

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.