How Analysts View Kraft Heinz After Earnings

The July merger that created the Kraft Heinz Co. (NYSE: KHC) appears to have paid off for investors in the fourth quarter of the year. When the company reported earnings last week, it topped pro forma earnings estimates by four cents a share.

One investor who is not especially pleased with Kraft Heinz’s performance is Warren Buffett who was a majority investor in the merged company. In his recent letter to shareholders he noted:

Berkshire also owns Kraft Heinz preferred shares that pay us $720 million annually and are carried at $7.7 billion on our balance sheet. That holding will almost certainly be redeemed for $8.32 billion in June (the earliest date allowed under the preferred’s terms). That will be good news for Kraft Heinz and bad news for Berkshire.

Among analysts, Bank of America Merrill Lynch had this to say after raising the company’s price target and maintaining a Buy rating on Kraft Heinz stock:

We are raising FY16/FY17 EPS to $2.88/$3.85 for KHC after 4Q15 EPS upside and confident outlook. 4Q15 adj EBITDA of $1.875bn beat by $234mn ($155mn ex the 53rd week), boosted by legacy and new productivity initiatives.

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Here are other analysts’ changes:

• Bernstein raised its price target from $88 to $90.
• Deutsche Bank raised its price target from $68 to $72 with a Hold rating.
• Goldman Sachs raised its price target from $84 to $89 with a Buy rating.
• JPMorgan raised its rating from Neutral to Overweight and its price target from $78 to $85.
• Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $80 to $82 and rates the stock Overweight.
• Susquehanna raised its price target from $98 to $104 with a Positive rating.

Shares closed up about 3.8% on Friday, at $77.84 in a 52-week range of $61.42 to $81.40. The consensus price target on the stock is $90.29, although the recent changes may not yet be included in the calculation.