Hershey (HSY) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

The Hershey Company, headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of chocolate and confectionery products. Best known for its flagship Hershey’s milk chocolate bars, the company’s portfolio also includes iconic brands such as Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Hershey’s Kisses, Kit Kat (in the United States), Twizzlers, and Jolly Rancher. Beyond chocolate, Hershey offers a range of mint, gum, and snack products, positioning itself as a diversified snacking company.

Founded in 1894 by chocolatier Milton S. Hershey, the company grew from a small caramel business into a mass‐market chocolate producer with the opening of the Hershey Chocolate Factory in 1905. Milton Hershey’s vision included not only product innovation but also community development, leading to the creation of the model town of Hershey, Pennsylvania, and the Milton Hershey School for orphaned and disadvantaged children. Over more than a century, Hershey has expanded through organic growth and acquisitions, continually updating its manufacturing capabilities and product offerings to meet shifting consumer tastes.

Hershey sells products primarily across North America, with growing operations in Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia‐Pacific region. The company’s global reach is supported by a network of manufacturing facilities, distribution centers and partnerships that help adapt its portfolio to local markets. In recent years, Hershey has invested in innovation—ranging from better-for-you snacking options to premium confections—to address changing dietary trends and consumer preferences.

Under the leadership of President and Chief Executive Officer Michele Buck, who assumed the CEO role in 2017, Hershey has focused on brand building, supply chain optimization and digital transformation. The company’s executive team also emphasizes sustainability initiatives, including responsible sourcing of cocoa and reducing environmental impact, reflecting Hershey’s long-standing commitment to social responsibility and community engagement.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $187.20 to $188.85
• 50-Day Range: $162.34 to $190.23
• 52-Week Range: $140.13 to $208.03
• Volume: 924,453 shs
• Average Volume: 1.15 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $38.10 billion
• P/E Ratio: 24.96
• Dividend Yield: 2.92%
• Price Target: $171.22
• Consensus Rating: Reduce

Hershey Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Hershey scored higher than 71% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 76th out of 144 stocks in the consumer staples sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Reduce

Consensus Rating

Hershey has received a consensus rating of Reduce. The company's average rating score is 1.78, and is based on no buy ratings, 14 hold ratings, and 4 sell ratings.

Downside Risk

Hershey has a consensus price target of $171.22, representing about 8.9% downside from its current price of $187.96.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Hershey has been the subject of 10 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 11.60%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Hershey are expected to grow by 11.60% in the coming year, from $6.12 to $6.83 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Hershey is 24.96, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 278.40.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Hershey is 24.96, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Consumer Staples sector average P/E ratio of about 18.26.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Hershey has a PEG Ratio of 4.49. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Hershey has a P/B Ratio of 8.07. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

7.25% of the float of Hershey has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Hershey has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 6.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Hershey has recently increased by 3.13%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

Hershey pays a meaningful dividend of 2.95%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Hershey has been increasing its dividend for 15 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Hershey is 72.78%. This payout ratio is at a healthy, sustainable level, below 75%.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on EPS estimates, Hershey will have a dividend payout ratio of 80.23% in the coming year. This indicates that Hershey may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Environmental Score: -1.32

Percentage of Shares Shorted

7.25% of the float of Hershey has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Hershey has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 6.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Hershey has recently increased by 3.13%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.39

News Sentiment

Hershey has a news sentiment score of 1.39. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.90 average news sentiment score of Consumer Staples companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 22 news articles for Hershey this week, compared to 36 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 15 people have searched for HSY on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -32% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

13 people have added Hershey to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 333% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.7 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Hershey insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $15,759,755.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

Only 0.28% of the stock of Hershey is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

57.96% of the stock of Hershey is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

HSY Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have HSY shares performed this year?

Hershey's stock was trading at $169.35 at the beginning of 2025. Since then, HSY shares have increased by 11.0% and is now trading at $187.96.

How were Hershey's earnings last quarter?

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July, 30th. The company reported $1.21 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The business's quarterly revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year.
Read the conference call transcript.

Does Hershey have any subsidiaries?

Hershey subsidiaries include Dot's Pretzels, Lily's Sweets, One Brands LLC, Pirate Brands, Amplify Snack Brands2, Ripple Brand Collective LLC, Krave Pure Foods, and more.

Who are Hershey's major shareholders?

Top institutional investors of Hershey include Vanguard Group Inc. (9.29%), State Street Corp (3.51%), Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. (2.52%) and Geode Capital Management LLC (2.25%). Insiders that own company stock include Hershey Trust Co Trustee In Tr, Michele Buck, Steven E Voskuil, Hershey Trust Co, Rohit Grover, James Turoff, Jason Reiman, Pamela M Arway, Charles R Raup, Robert Malcolm, Christopher M Scalia, Kristen J Riggs and Jennifer Mccalman.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Hershey?

Shares of HSY stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Hershey own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Hershey investors own include Salesforce (CRM), Chevron (CVX), AbbVie (ABBV), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), CocaCola (KO), Home Depot (HD) and Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK).

Company Calendar

• Record date for 6/16 Dividend: 5/16/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 6/16 Dividend: 5/16/2025
• Dividend Payable: 6/16/2025
• Last Earnings: 7/30/2025
• Record date for 9/15 Dividend: 8/15/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 9/15 Dividend: 8/15/2025
• Today: 9/09/2025
• Dividend Payable: 9/15/2025
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/06/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2025

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Consumer Staples
• Industry: FOOD - CONFECTNRY
• Sub-Industry: Packaged Foods & Meats
• Current Symbol: NYSE:HSY
• CIK: 47111
• Web: www.thehersheycompany.com
• Phone: (717) 534-4200
• Fax: 717-534-7873
• Employees: 20,030
• Year Founded: 1894

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Hershey: $171.22
• High Price Target: $208.00
• Low Price Target: $134.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: -8.8%
• Consensus Rating: Reduce
• Rating Score (0-4): 1.78
• Research Coverage: 18 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $7.53
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 24.93
• Forward P/E Ratio: 30.67
• P/E Growth: 4.49
• Net Income: $2.22 billion
• Net Margins: 13.54%
• Pretax Margin: 15.18%
• Return on Equity: 37.36%
• Return on Assets: 12.73%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 1.15
• Current Ratio: 1.53
• Quick Ratio: 0.89

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $11.20 billion
• Price / Sales: 3.40
• Cash Flow: $11.81 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 15.89
• Book Value: $23.30 per share
• Price / Book: 8.06

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 202,720,000
• Free Float: 202,156,000
• Market Cap: $38.05 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.27