Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Hershey has a consensus “Hold” rating among 23 analysts, with 16 holds and seven buys. The average 12-month price target is $204.78, although several analysts recently lowered or set targets ranging from $185 to $240.
• The company reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.90 versus the $1.43 consensus and revenue of $2.79 billion versus $2.63 billion expected. Revenue increased 6.6% year over year, and full-year 2026 guidance was set at $8.36–$8.52 EPS.
• Hershey declared a quarterly dividend of $1.452 per share, equivalent to an annualized $5.81 and a 3.1% yield. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company, while insiders own just 0.08%.

Shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the twenty-three analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $204.7778.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Evercore set a $225.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. DA Davidson set a $190.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,043,150. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Hershey by 17,582.2% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 43,248,250 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,587,905,000 after acquiring an additional 43,003,663 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company's stock worth $3,469,855,000 after acquiring an additional 191,671 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,303,889,000. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,106,431 shares of the company's stock worth $1,657,189,000 after acquiring an additional 169,660 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,253,041 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,356,681,000 after purchasing an additional 128,982 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $189.92 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $178.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.40. Hershey has a twelve month low of $161.43 and a twelve month high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $2.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.63 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 31.92% and a net margin of 12.24%.The company's revenue was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.21 EPS. Hershey has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.360-8.520 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 8.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.23%.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company NYSE: HSY is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey's business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey's product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.

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