In the latest close session, Kraft Heinz (KHC) was down 1.43% at $26.90. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.21% for the day. At the same time, the Dow added 0.25%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq gained 0.45%.
The processed food company with dual headquarters in Pittsburgh and Chicago's stock has dropped by 1.69% in the past month, falling short of the Consumer Staples sector's gain of 1.33% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.07%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Kraft Heinz in its upcoming release. The company is predicted to post an EPS of $0.58, indicating a 22.67% decline compared to the equivalent quarter last year. In the meantime, our current consensus estimate forecasts the revenue to be $6.28 billion, indicating a 1.67% decline compared to the corresponding quarter of the prior year.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $2.58 per share and revenue of $25.21 billion. These totals would mark changes of -15.69% and -2.48%, respectively, from last year.
Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Kraft Heinz should also be noted by investors. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the business and profitability.
Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.04% lower within the past month. Right now, Kraft Heinz possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
With respect to valuation, Kraft Heinz is currently being traded at a Forward P/E ratio of 10.58. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 16.23 for its industry.
Also, we should mention that KHC has a PEG ratio of 3.18. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Food - Miscellaneous industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 1.84 as of yesterday's close.
The Food - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 169, placing it within the bottom 32% of over 250 industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
Don't forget to use Zacks.com to keep track of all these stock-moving metrics, and others, in the upcoming trading sessions.
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Kraft Heinz Company (KHC): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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