Goldman Sachs upgraded KHC to "buy" from "neutral"
The shares of Kraft Heinz Co (NASDAQ:KHC) are up 3.6% to trade at $34.23 at last glance, after Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral." The analyst in coverage noted the company's solid positioning with reduced private label exposure and leverage levels, and added strong pricing combined with resilient volume is contributing to its sales growth. Plus, the firm expects cost pressures to subside moving forward.
There's room for more brokerages to follow suit. Coming into today, eight of 13 analysts in coverage called KHC a "hold" or worse, while five said "strong buy."
Options bulls are targeting the security today, with 2,360 calls crossed the tape, which is double the intraday average, as opposed to the 322 puts exchanged. The most popular contract is the 10/14 34-strike call, where new are positions being opened.
Options look like an ideal way to speculate on Kraft Heinz stock's next move. This is per the equity's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 73 out of 100, which indicates it has consistently realized bigger returns than options traders have priced in the past 12 months.
Digging deeper, a familiar floor at the $32.80 level contained KHC's Friday pullback. The security is today chipping away at its 4.3% year-to-date deficit, as it conquers overhead pressure at the 20-day moving average, which first came into place in late August.