Piper Sandler Cuts Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Price Target to $179.00

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) had its price objective decreased by Piper Sandler from $200.00 to $179.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Piper Sandler currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on HSY. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Hershey from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hershey from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $235.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Hershey Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $182.45 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.11. The company has a market cap of $37.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34. 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 has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,634,329.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hershey

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HSY. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth about $349,448,000. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Hershey by 143.7% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,039,000 after buying an additional 1,453,819 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Hershey by 2,693.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,094,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055,559 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Hershey by 57.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,352,000 after acquiring an additional 964,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Hershey by 36.7% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,378,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,202,000 after acquiring an additional 369,940 shares in 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.