Hershey’s (HSY) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at Edward Jones

Edward Jones reaffirmed their hold rating on shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) in a research report sent to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. 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 report on Monday, January 29th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Hershey from an outperform rating to a neutral rating and set a $208.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. 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 report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $185.02 on Friday. Hershey has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $192.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.97. The firm has a market cap of $37.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $670,244. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $349,448,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,819 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of 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 position in shares of 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 position in shares of 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 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.