Kraft Heinz (KHC) Stock Falls Amid Market Uptick: What Investors Need to Know

KHC

The most recent trading session ended with Kraft Heinz (KHC - Free Report) standing at $37.21, reflecting a -0.03% shift from the previouse trading day's closing. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.23% for the day. Meanwhile, the Dow experienced a rise of 0.37%, and the technology-dominated Nasdaq saw an increase of 0.07%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the the processed food company with dual headquarters in Pittsburgh and Chicago had lost 2.69% over the past month. This has lagged the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 1.41% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.3% in that time.

The investment community will be paying close attention to the earnings performance of Kraft Heinz in its upcoming release. The company is slated to reveal its earnings on February 14, 2024. In that report, analysts expect Kraft Heinz to post earnings of $0.77 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 9.41%. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $6.98 billion, showing a 5.44% drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Kraft Heinz. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research demonstrates that these adjustments in estimates directly associate with imminent stock price performance. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.05% lower within the past month. At present, Kraft Heinz boasts a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Kraft Heinz is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 12.36. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 17.33, so one might conclude that Kraft Heinz is trading at a discount comparatively.

One should further note that KHC currently holds a PEG ratio of 2.59. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. The Food - Miscellaneous industry had an average PEG ratio of 2.39 as trading concluded yesterday.

The Food - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. With its current Zacks Industry Rank of 152, this industry ranks in the bottom 40% of all industries, numbering over 250.

The Zacks Industry Rank assesses the vigor of our specific industry groups by computing the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks incorporated in the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.

7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days

Just released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."

Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +24.2% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. 

See them now >>