Redburn Atlantic Initiates Coverage on Hershey (NYSE:HSY)

Equities research analysts at Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) in a research report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “sell” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic’s target price suggests a potential downside of 9.33% from the stock’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group lowered Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $226.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Hershey from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $184.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.80.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $181.98 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.37. Hershey has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,912.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 218.2% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 55.0% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Hershey during the first quarter valued at $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Hershey in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 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.