The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have assigned a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $204.50.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Hershey from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total value of $274,395.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,723.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $867,450. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Alliance grew its holdings in Hershey by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. AJOVista LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth about $153,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1,263.3% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 13,997 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,332,000. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Hershey by 179.4% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 4,468 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of HSY opened at $201.50 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. Hershey has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $227.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.75 billion, a PE ratio of 19.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $190.24 and its 200-day moving average is $193.04.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hershey will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.31%.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.