Brokerages Set The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) PT at $204.50

Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nineteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $204.50.

A number of equities analysts have commented on HSY shares. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $179.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Argus dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY stock opened at $201.50 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.04. Hershey has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $227.65.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Hershey will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on 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 owns 35,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,535,723.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $867,450 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its position in Hershey by 218.2% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Hershey by 55.0% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Hershey in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Hershey in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.