The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Short Interest Up 6.8% in March

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,410,000 shares, an increase of 6.8% from the March 15th total of 20,990,000 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 8,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on KHC shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $43.00 price objective on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.71.

Kraft Heinz Stock Up 1.0 %

KHC opened at $36.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.30. The company has a market cap of $44.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.67. Kraft Heinz has a 1 year low of $30.68 and a 1 year high of $41.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. Kraft Heinz had a net margin of 10.72% and a return on equity of 7.42%. The firm had revenue of $6.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.99 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.85 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 3.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.26%.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KHC. Raymond James Trust N.A. grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 39,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,465,000 after buying an additional 3,916 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the third quarter worth approximately $5,399,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,768,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,478,000 after buying an additional 247,896 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 457,923 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,934,000 after buying an additional 136,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 37.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,029,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,897,000 after buying an additional 832,653 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

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.