Bank of America Downgrades Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) to Underperform

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) was downgraded by analysts at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $30.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $36.00. Bank of America‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 3.73% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on KHC. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $35.00 target price (down previously from $38.00) on shares of Kraft Heinz in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.86.

Kraft Heinz Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:KHC opened at $28.92 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.47. Kraft Heinz has a one year low of $27.25 and a one year high of $38.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $32.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.84 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Kraft Heinz will post 3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kraft Heinz

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 19.9% during the fourth 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 lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 16.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,400,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,558,898,000 after acquiring an additional 6,366,732 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 3.1% during the 4th 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 stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the 3rd quarter valued at $411,304,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz during the fourth quarter valued at $324,857,000. Institutional investors 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.