Kraft Heinz Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:KHC)

Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 76,270 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 170% compared to the typical volume of 28,200 call options.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake 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 purchasing an additional 15,951,271 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $332,382,000. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 77.8% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,973,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,599,000 after buying an additional 3,926,141 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 94.8% during the first quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 4,347,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,777,000 after acquiring an additional 2,116,175 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 226.3% in the 1st quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,990,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,262,000 after acquiring an additional 2,074,270 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on KHC. Morgan Stanley set a $22.00 price target on Kraft Heinz in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $18.00 to $17.00 in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, May 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $22.69.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $22.23. The company had a trading volume of 7,801,784 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,508,869. Kraft Heinz has a 52-week low of $21.03 and a 52-week high of $29.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.58 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.11 and a 200 day moving average of $23.50.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.08. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.26% and a negative net margin of 23.05%.The business had revenue of $6.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.100 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Kraft Heinz will post 2.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 5th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 5th. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is currently -32.92%.

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.