NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of Kraft Foods Group Inc. are higher by 5.01% to $88.62 on heavy volume in early afternoon trading on Friday, as the stock continues to rise following Wednesday's announcement that the branded food company will merge with H.J. Heinz Co. in a deal valued at $46 billion. The combination of Kraft, known for its boxed macaroni and cheese dinners, and Heinz, the famous ketchup maker, will create the third largest food company in North America, Reuters reported. So far today 13.97 million shares of Kraft Foods have exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 4.64 million shares. The deal, which is expected to close in the second half of the year, was structured by Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital. The new publicly traded company will be known as The Kraft Heinz Company. Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates KRAFT FOODS GROUP INC as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation: "We rate KRAFT FOODS GROUP INC (KRFT) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed-some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, good cash flow from operations and increase in stock price during the past year. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, generally higher debt management risk and premium valuation." Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows: The revenue growth came in higher than the industry average of 10.1%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 2.2%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share. Net operating cash flow has increased to $1,140.00 million or 23.37% when compared to the same quarter last year. In addition, KRAFT FOODS GROUP INC has also vastly surpassed the industry average cash flow growth rate of -36.56%. The gross profit margin for KRAFT FOODS GROUP INC is currently extremely low, coming in at 12.67%. It has decreased significantly from the same period last year. Along with this, the net profit margin of -8.47% is significantly below that of the industry average. You can view the full analysis from the report here: KRFT Ratings Report Must Read: Warren Buffett's Top 25 Stocks for 2015
Click to view a price quote on KRFT. Click to research the Food & Beverage industry.
from Latest TSC Headlines http://ift.tt/1Mca3fV
No comments:
Post a Comment