At first glance, Kraft Heinz Company (NYSE:KHC) appears rather disastrous. As a consumer goods giant, it theoretically should be somewhat insulated from broader economic pressures; after all, people have to eat. Unfortunately, this underlying reality has not helped KHC stock, which is down more than 21% on a year-to-date basis. Nevertheless, a contrarian quantitative signal presents an informational arbitrage opportunity.
It must be stated, though, that circumstances don't look auspicious at all for investors. Late last month, Kraft Heinz reported third-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 61 cents, beating analysts' consensus estimate of 58 cents. Unfortunately, the good news pretty much ended there, with quarterly sales of $6.237 billion falling short of the Street's view of $6.256 billion.
