JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Stock Price

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) had its price target lowered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $32.00 to $31.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 6.80% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup cut Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $34.00 to $28.00 in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America downgraded Kraft Heinz from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $36.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $37.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Mizuho downgraded shares of Kraft Heinz from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $38.00 to $31.00 in a report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.57.

Kraft Heinz Price Performance

Kraft Heinz stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $29.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,329,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,563,705. Kraft Heinz has a twelve month low of $27.25 and a twelve month high of $38.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $29.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.06. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.46% and a net margin of 5.24%. Research analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,508,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,779,524,000 after purchasing an additional 14,996,486 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 19,745,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $604,644,000 after acquiring an additional 595,406 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $411,304,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kraft Heinz during the 4th quarter worth approximately $324,857,000. 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.