Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) Cut to “Underweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) from a neutral rating to an underweight rating in a research report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $22.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $24.00.

KHC has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays dropped their target price on Kraft Heinz from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $28.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $25.21.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

Shares of Kraft Heinz stock opened at $24.80 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.36 billion, a PE ratio of -5.02 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $24.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.31. Kraft Heinz has a one year low of $21.99 and a one year high of $33.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.15.

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

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.5%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio is -32.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kraft Heinz news, insider Miguel Patricio sold 125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.82, for a total value of $3,102,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 686,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,046,797.94. This represents a 15.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KHC. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1.0% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 14.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 26,446,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $681,663,000 after acquiring an additional 3,392,470 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 1.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,855,352 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,953,000 after acquiring an additional 270,678 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 13,801,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $336,134,000 after purchasing an additional 106,970 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Kraft Heinz

Here are the key news stories impacting Kraft Heinz this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company announced a meaningful quarterly dividend (annualized yield ~6.6%; ex‑dividend March 6). Stable, high yield supports income-focused investors and can cushion downside for the stock.
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call buying: traders purchased ~58,273 KHC calls (≈99% above average), indicating short‑term bullish/speculative positioning that can amplify upside volume and volatility.
• Neutral Sentiment: Kraft Heinz is increasing investments: management forecast ~ $950M capital spending for 2026 and has committed ~$600M to revive growth — this signals a shift to reinvest in brands but raises near‑term execution questions. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts are split: Sanford Bernstein raised its PT to $27 while Deutsche Bank trimmed its PT to $23; other shops issued varying revisions (Piper Sandler, Barclays, Evercore, BNP). The mixed guidance reflects uncertainty and explains volatile price reactions. Read More. • Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Some sell-side research is bearish: Seeking Alpha published a negative note calling the “catalyst” gone after a weak quarter, impairment charges and brand declines — a narrative that can pressure investor confidence. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Major downgrades: JPMorgan downgraded KHC to underweight with a $22 PT, signaling limited near‑term upside after the breakup pause — a clear negative for sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional downside pressure from price‑target cuts at Evercore and BNP Paribas (to $22 and $20 respectively) and continued concerns over slowing sales, a large impairment and margin pressure following Q4 results. Read More. • Read More.

About Kraft Heinz

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.