Summarize and humanize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in English We recently published a list of 10 Best Packaged Food Stocks to Buy Now. In this article, we are going to take a look at where The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) stands against other best packaged food stocks to buy now. According to a report by Grand View Research, the US packaged food market had a size of $1.03 trillion in 2021. It is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.8% between 2022 and 2030. The primary growth drivers for the industry include the rising consumer inclination for convenience coupled with consumers’ hectic lives and work schedules. In addition, the rise in e-commerce sales in the US is another significant factor supporting the sale of packaged food nationwide. Growing innovation in plant-based products, food packaging, healthy ingredients, and bold flavors is expected to continue driving this growth in the United States in the coming years. READ ALSO: 14 Best Farmland and Agriculture Stocks Buy Now and 10 Best Consumer Staples Stocks to Buy According to Analysts. On April 8, BofA Securities analysts Bryan D. Spillane, Lisa K. Lewandowski, and Peter T. Galbo released their research findings on the consumer staples industry and their expected performance in case of a potential recession. The analysts iterated that in a majority of recent recessions, consumer staples have historically outperformed the S&P 500 as a sector. This trend points towards a defensive edge for the sector. However, the analysts also cautioned that current market conditions, including weak volume growth and lingering high prices, should be considered, as they may affect the sector’s resilience in a future downturn. Despite these concerns, consumer staples make up an appealing sector for investors and experts due to their limited exposure to the recently imposed tariffs, potentially helping sustain valuation multiples. During recessions, the stock prices in the consumer staples sector are typically affected by earnings per share (EPS) instead of sales growth. Yahoo! Finance reported that sector analysis highlights forward EPS accounting for more than 90% of stock price movement across central subsectors, including Packaged Food, Beverages, Household and Personal Care, and Tobacco. The analysts also opined that these trends reflect the significance of earnings strength when determining stock performance in volatile and uncertain economic conditions. Yahoo! Finance further reported that the top-performing stocks in the consumer staples sector are likely to share three common traits. These include solid balance sheets with the potential to sustain share buybacks to boost EPS, profit flexibility to offset increasing costs and revenue pressure, and a strong manufacturing presence in the US to constrain tariff-related inflation. We sifted through stock screeners, financial media reports, and ETFs to compile a list of 30 packaged food stocks and chose the top 10 most popular among hedge funds as of Q4 2024. The list is ordered in ascending order of hedge fund sentiment. We sourced the hedge fund sentiment data from Insider Monkey’s database. Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here). Is Kraft Heinz Company (KHC) the Best Food Stock to Buy According to Billionaires? A closeup of an assembly line worker inspecting a newly produced jar of condiments and sauces. Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 43 The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) manufactures and distributes packaged food and beverages worldwide. Its offerings include cheese and dairy products, meals, tomato products, condiments, meats, sauces, refreshment beverages, and more. Its geographical segments of operation include North America and International Developed Markets. The company is maintaining a strong financial position, as reflected in its fiscal 2024 earnings. It generated $3.2 billion in free cash flow, reflecting a 6% growth compared to 2023. Operating cash flow also grew 5.2% year-over-year to $4.2 billion. The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) returned $2.7 billion to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases and currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.40 per share. The company takes the sixth spot on our list of the best packaged food stocks to buy now. Mairs & Power Growth Fund stated the following regarding The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) in its Q3 2024 investor letter: “We added The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC) to the Fund in the quarter. Kraft Heinz is a leading global food company that possesses a portfolio of iconic brands, including its eponymous ketchup brand. The company has undergone an operational transformation focused on driving efficiency gains in supply chain, manufacturing and distribution. These efficiency gains have fueled increased investments in technology, automation, innovation and marketing, which should ultimately drive more consistent organic revenue growth and high single digit earnings per share growth. We expect above-average long-term returns, buoyed by consistent free cash flow generation, opportunistic share repurchases and an attractive 4-5% dividend yield. A modest current valuation affords an ample margin of safety.” Overall, KHC ranks 6th on our list of best packaged food stocks to buy now. While we acknowledge the potential for KHC as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than KHC but trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock. READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires. Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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