** Kraft Heinz KHC.O forecast annual profit below estimates on Wednesday as years of price hikes eat into demand for the packaged food maker's Lunchables and packaged meat

** Average rating of 23 analysts on KHC is "hold" and median PT is $33, according to data compiled by LSEG

BETWEEN A ROCK AND A KETCHUP BOTTLE

** Jefferies ("hold", PT: $26) believes it might be hard to sustain KHC's current performance, but raising prices in some categories can help offset the impact of inflation

** TD Cowen ("hold", PT: $29) says KHC's recent execution stumbles with key U.S. retail brands and the continued portfolio's vulnerability to becoming generic and being replaced by private labels pose significant concerns

** Brokerages see an increased risk of price cuts and a reset to profit margins to stabilize declining sales volumes

** UBS ("neutral", PT: $31) thinks KHC's profit targets are achievable, but this depends on consistent growth in organic revenue

** However, predicting this growth is challenging due to various uncertainties from a category/share perspective adds UBS

** J.P.Morgan ("neutral", PT: $31) expects net pricing to be flattish to slightly positive for the year but there could be some choppiness in certain periods

(Reporting by Akriti Shah in Bengaluru)

((akriti.shah@thomsonreuters.com))