Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC)
by Doug Wharley · The Cerbat GemKraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC – Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders purchased 53,742 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 69% compared to the average daily volume of 31,708 call options.
Insider Activity
In other Kraft Heinz news, insider Cory Onell sold 4,991 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.34, for a total transaction of $121,480.94. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 197,463 shares in the company, valued at $4,806,249.42. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.35% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz
Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Old North State Trust LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 9,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 608 shares during the last quarter. Stance Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 6,633.0% in the 4th quarter. Stance Capital LLC now owns 116,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 114,685 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Kraft Heinz by 53.3% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 21,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 7,346 shares during the last quarter. PeakShares LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter worth approximately $174,000. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Kraft Heinz by 3,034.1% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 16,477,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,957,000 after purchasing an additional 15,951,271 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $23.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $24.00 to $20.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Kraft Heinz in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore lowered their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $23.53.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on KHC
Kraft Heinz Stock Performance
Shares of KHC traded down $0.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $22.09. The stock had a trading volume of 4,180,979 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,316,187. The company has a market cap of $26.20 billion, a PE ratio of -4.48 and a beta of 0.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. Kraft Heinz has a fifty-two week low of $21.03 and a fifty-two week high of $30.42.
Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $6.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.38 billion. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.07% and a negative net margin of 23.44%.The business’s revenue was down 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.84 EPS. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.980-2.100 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Kraft Heinz will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.
Kraft Heinz Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 6th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 6th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.2%. Kraft Heinz’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -32.39%.
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.