The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) Short Interest Up 23.9% in August

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 36,560,000 shares, a growth of 23.9% from the August 15th total of 29,510,000 shares. Currently, 3.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 7,810,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.7 days.

Kraft Heinz Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:KHC opened at $35.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.56, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.49. Kraft Heinz has a 1-year low of $30.68 and a 1-year high of $38.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $34.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.55 billion. Kraft Heinz had a return on equity of 7.38% and a net margin of 7.30%. The company’s revenue was down 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.79 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kraft Heinz will post 3.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is presently 69.87%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Cory Onell sold 4,076 shares of Kraft Heinz stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.00, for a total transaction of $146,736.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 143,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,182,920. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kraft Heinz in the fourth quarter worth $110,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Kraft Heinz by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,081,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,960,000 after acquiring an additional 474,758 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Kraft Heinz by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,792 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,974,000 after acquiring an additional 69,696 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in shares of Kraft Heinz in the 4th quarter valued at about $706,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kraft Heinz by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 70,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,624,000 after purchasing an additional 5,460 shares in the last quarter. 78.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KHC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Kraft Heinz from $42.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $38.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Kraft Heinz from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.50.

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.