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

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors purchased 35,699 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 44% compared to the average daily volume of 24,854 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Kraft Heinz by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 130,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,995,000 after acquiring an additional 361 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 7,265 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,000 after buying an additional 366 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 35,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 370 shares during the period. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 20.1% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 4.2% in the third quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 9,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $33.00 to $29.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Mizuho lowered shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $32.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

KHC stock traded up $1.16 on Friday, reaching $32.04. 10,477,316 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,209,146. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.33. Kraft Heinz has a 12 month low of $27.25 and a 12 month high of $38.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.58% and a net margin of 10.62%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.99%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.80%.

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.