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

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders acquired 26,780 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 45% compared to the average volume of 18,452 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kraft Heinz currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $36.55.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ KHC opened at $32.02 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.72 billion, a PE ratio of 28.85, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.49. Kraft Heinz has a one year low of $30.40 and a one year high of $38.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $34.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.22.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.42 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Kraft Heinz will post 3.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.00%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is currently 144.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Pedro F. P. Navio sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.45, for a total value of $1,505,250.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 168,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,626,122.75. This trade represents a 21.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,558,898,000 after buying an additional 6,366,732 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Kraft Heinz by 11.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,150,328 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,821,000 after acquiring an additional 1,944,019 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter valued at $411,304,000. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 9,107,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,450,000 after purchasing an additional 189,000 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Kraft Heinz by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,064,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,061,000 after purchasing an additional 799,581 shares during the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

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.