The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) have received a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and sixteen have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $192.80.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on HSY shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $184.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Hershey in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “sell” rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,912.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 320,680 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,951,000 after buying an additional 29,246 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its position in Hershey by 179.4% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 4,468 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services purchased a new stake in Hershey during the first quarter valued at $5,383,000. Signet Financial Management LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 59.9% during the first quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 12,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,521,000 after purchasing an additional 4,854 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 119.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 91,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,633,000 after buying an additional 50,014 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:HSY opened at $181.98 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.88. The firm has a market cap of $36.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.37. Hershey has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.86.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.31%.

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.