The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $210.56.

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 6th. Argus lowered their price objective on Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $882,405. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its stake in Hershey by 19.6% during the third quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 5,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 848 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 51.2% during the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 18,316 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,665,000 after buying an additional 6,203 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 13.8% during the third quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 11,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,235,000 after buying an additional 1,358 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth approximately $1,332,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth approximately $1,579,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 0.7 %

HSY stock opened at $186.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company’s 50 day moving average is $195.00 and its 200 day moving average is $192.49. The stock has a market cap of $37.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 0.37. Hershey has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $263.29.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Hershey will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.