Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Price Target Cut to $183.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) had its price objective dropped by research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $205.00 to $183.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 4.17% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $163.00 to $161.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group downgraded shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Hershey in a report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $185.00 price target for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $190.56.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY stock traded up $2.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $175.67. The stock had a trading volume of 3,115,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,375,510. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $189.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.13. Hershey has a 52 week low of $171.67 and a 52 week high of $211.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.38.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.34 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.16). The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hershey will post 9.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,912.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hershey

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 218.2% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 55.0% in the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter worth about $35,000. 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.