Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) Stock Has Consensus Target Price of $203.00 According to Analysts

Key Points

• Hershey has a consensus “Hold” rating from 22 analysts—16 holds and six buys—with an average 12-month price target of $203, above the stock’s reported $162.82 price.
• Recent analysts generally maintained neutral or equal-weight views while lowering targets toward $200; Piper Sandler cut its target from $249 to $200 despite retaining an overweight rating.
• Hershey exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $1.90 in EPS and $2.79 billion in revenue, while paying a quarterly dividend of $1.452 per share, equivalent to a 3.6% yield.

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the twenty-two ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $203.00.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. Bank of America lowered their target price on Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays reduced their price target on Hershey from $208.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Hershey from $191.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 price objective on Hershey in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,043,150. The trade was a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in Hershey by 126.4% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 84,215 shares of the company's stock worth $17,508,000 after purchasing an additional 47,017 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 125.9% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 196,337 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,447,000 after buying an additional 109,418 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter valued at approximately $62,664,000. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter valued at approximately $274,871,000. Finally, OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,182,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Hershey Stock Down 0.6%

HSY opened at $162.82 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Hershey has a 1-year low of $156.16 and a 1-year high of $239.48. The company has a market capitalization of $32.71 billion, a PE ratio of 22.24, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.10. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $173.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $181.91.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th were issued a $1.4520 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.37%.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company NYSE: HSY is a global confectionery and snack food company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894, the company began as a chocolate manufacturer and has grown into one of the largest producers of confectionery products in North America.

Hershey's portfolio includes chocolate, candy, gum, mints, protein bars and salty snacks. Its well-known brands include Hershey's, Reese's, Kisses, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot's.

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