BNP Paribas Downgrades Hershey (NYSE:HSY) to Neutral

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) was downgraded by equities research analysts at BNP Paribas from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $208.00 target price on the stock. BNP Paribas’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 7.38% from the stock’s current price.

HSY has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Hershey from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $225.48.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $193.71 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Hershey has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $276.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $193.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.79. The firm has a market cap of $39.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Hershey will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total value of $396,170.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at $2,833,624.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total value of $396,170.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at $2,833,624.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,518 shares of company stock worth $1,066,414. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,182,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,830,683,000 after acquiring an additional 271,636 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 3.2% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,160,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,785,458,000 after acquiring an additional 465,423 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Hershey by 1.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,144,337 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,783,941,000 after buying an additional 111,357 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Hershey by 9.1% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,489,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $886,746,000 after buying an additional 290,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Hershey by 57.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,352,000 after buying an additional 964,019 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.