Citigroup Boosts Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Price Target to $195.00

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $188.00 to $195.00 in a research note published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on HSY. Barclays lowered their price objective on Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Edward Jones reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Hershey from $197.00 to $192.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price target on Hershey from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $204.50.

Hershey Stock Up 1.5 %

Hershey stock traded up $2.91 on Friday, hitting $198.93. 452,607 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,855,991. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market cap of $40.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.77. Hershey has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $230.69.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). The firm 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 quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hershey will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.75%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total transaction of $274,395.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,723.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock worth $867,450 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 5,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Mount Lucas Management LP grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 9,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 486 shares of the company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.