DA Davidson Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Stock Price

Key Points

• DA Davidson cut its price target for Hershey from $230 to $208 and kept a "neutral" rating, implying about a 14.7% upside from the current price.
• Analyst consensus is a "Hold" with an average target of $218.33 after several recent target downgrades and a split of 7 Buy vs. 16 Hold ratings.
• Hershey beat quarterly expectations—EPS $2.35 vs. $2.04 and revenue $3.10B, up 10.7% YoY—but the stock trades around $181.36, below its 50-day moving average of $210.21.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) had its price target cut by investment analysts at DA Davidson from $230.00 to $208.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. DA Davidson's target price would indicate a potential upside of 14.69% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a "market perform" rating and set a $250.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $249.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $218.33.

Hershey Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of HSY stock traded down $0.98 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $181.36. The stock had a trading volume of 324,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,991,247. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $210.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.79. Hershey has a 52-week low of $150.04 and a 52-week high of $239.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.76 billion, a PE ratio of 33.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. Hershey's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Hershey will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $791,245.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $452,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 41,036 shares in the company, valued at $9,277,008.52. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,000 shares of company stock worth $2,189,090. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Syon Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the company's stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,796 shares of the company's stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the company's stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the company's stock worth $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company's stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hershey Company Profile

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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