Kraft Heinz (KHC) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

In the latest trading session, Kraft Heinz (KHC) closed at $38.40, marking a +1.45% move from the previous day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 3.06%. Elsewhere, the Dow gained 2.68%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.04%.

Heading into today, shares of the maker of Oscar Mayer meats, Jell-O pudding and Velveeta cheese had gained 2.1% over the past month, outpacing the Consumer Staples sector's loss of 1.3% and the S&P 500's loss of 4.31% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Kraft Heinz as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Kraft Heinz to post earnings of $0.68 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 12.82%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $6.4 billion, down 3.27% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $2.69 per share and revenue of $25.61 billion, which would represent changes of -8.19% and -1.66%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for Kraft Heinz. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.23% lower within the past month. Kraft Heinz is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Kraft Heinz has a Forward P/E ratio of 14.09 right now. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 17.8, so we one might conclude that Kraft Heinz is trading at a discount comparatively.

Investors should also note that KHC has a PEG ratio of 2.82 right now. 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 currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.55 as of yesterday's close.

The Food - Miscellaneous industry is part of the Consumer Staples sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 146, which puts it in the bottom 43% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.

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