Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) Given Average Recommendation of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Key Points

• The Hershey Company has received an average recommendation of "Reduce" from analysts, with 4 sell ratings, 15 hold ratings, and 2 buy ratings among the 21 analysts covering the stock.
• Hershey's stock price opened at $195.04, with a one-year high of $208.03 and a one-year low of $140.13, indicating significant volatility in its trading range.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.37 per share, yielding 2.8%, and reported a 26% increase in quarterly revenue to $2.61 billion compared to the previous year.

Shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Reduce" from the twenty-one analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $174.0526.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Hershey from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $187.00 target price on the stock.

Hershey Stock Up 3.2%

HSY stock opened at $195.04 on Friday. Hershey has a one year low of $140.13 and a one year high of $208.03. The firm has a market cap of $39.54 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.26. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $185.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.53.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.98 by $0.23. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%.The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.809-5.997 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is presently 72.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $240,120.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,852,240. This represents a 3.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total transaction of $900,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 61,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,037,420. This trade represents a 7.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 65,704 shares of company stock valued at $12,206,910 in the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HSY. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth $234,386,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 6,721.3% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 819,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,150,000 after buying an additional 807,433 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter worth about $125,868,000. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 25.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company's stock worth $470,858,000 after buying an additional 557,056 shares during the period. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the second quarter valued at approximately $90,588,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently 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.

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