The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-one research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $223.33.

HSY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $186.23 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $191.74 and a 200 day moving average of $190.64. The stock has a market cap of $37.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34. Hershey has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $276.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hershey will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Hershey by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,126 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 3,285.7% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Hershey by 50.2% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 26,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,240,000 after purchasing an additional 8,758 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Hershey by 25.1% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 88,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,609,000 after purchasing an additional 17,631 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

About Hershey

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.