Bank of America Maintains Neutral Rating and $55 PT on H.J. Heinz

A report from Bank of America reiterates its Neutral rating and $55 price target on H.J. Heinz HNZ. The report states, “Key takeaways. 1) sales of $2.83b were slightly below our $2.87b forecast. Organic sales grew +1.5 percent with volumes down -2.9% and pricing +4.4%. This compared to our forecast of volumes down -0.5% and pricing +3.9%; 2) operating profits were $395M versus our forecast of $416M. Weaker than expected gross margins and weak profits in U.S. Foodservice and Asia /Pacific drove the miss.” HNZ closed yesterday at $52.82.