Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC)

Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors acquired 89,861 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 177% compared to the average daily volume of 32,448 call options.

Institutional Trading of Kraft Heinz

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KHC. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its position in Kraft Heinz by 3.9% during the second quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 11,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $270,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Kraft Heinz by 19.6% in the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 3,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 508 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 4,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 509 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 8,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kraft Heinz by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 10,029 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 78.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KHC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Kraft Heinz from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Kraft Heinz from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Evercore set a $24.00 target price on Kraft Heinz in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Kraft Heinz from $25.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kraft Heinz from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $23.88.

Kraft Heinz Stock Performance

KHC stock opened at $22.33 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.48 billion, a PE ratio of -7.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.09. Kraft Heinz has a 12-month low of $21.03 and a 12-month high of $28.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.96.

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $6.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.18 billion. Kraft Heinz had a positive return on equity of 7.10% and a negative net margin of 13.64%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.69 EPS. Kraft Heinz has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.030-2.090 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kraft Heinz will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kraft Heinz Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 4th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 4th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.2%. Kraft Heinz’s payout ratio is -55.94%.

Kraft Heinz Company Profile

The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ: KHC) is a global food and beverage company that develops, manufactures and markets packaged foods and beverages for consumers, retailers and foodservice customers. Its portfolio includes condiments and sauces, cheese and dairy products, meals, meats, snacks, beverages and other grocery items.

The company’s brands include Heinz, Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Velveeta, Lunchables, Maxwell House, Capri Sun, Jell-O, Ore-Ida, Classico, Grey Poupon and Planters.