Wells Fargo & Company Cuts Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Price Target to $170.00

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) had its price objective trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $190.00 to $170.00 in a research note published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on HSY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $191.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $201.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Hershey from $212.00 to $206.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $203.67.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $160.32 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 1.18. Hershey has a fifty-two week low of $156.16 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.21 billion, a PE ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.10. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.36.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.47. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.21 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hershey will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were paid a $1.4520 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 79.37%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,043,150. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HSY. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in Hershey in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Bell Investment Advisors Inc purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 123.0% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a global confectionery and snack food company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894, the company began as a chocolate manufacturer and has grown into one of the largest producers of confectionery products in North America.

Hershey’s portfolio includes chocolate, candy, gum, mints, protein bars and salty snacks. Its well-known brands include Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot’s.