Hershey (HSY) Competitors

Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) and Hershey (NYSE:HSY) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, valuation, profitability, dividends, earnings, media sentiment and institutional ownership.

Is KHC or HSY a better dividend stock?

Kraft Heinz pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Hershey pays an annual dividend of $5.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Kraft Heinz pays out 73.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hershey pays out 67.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Hershey has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years.

Which has more volatility & risk, KHC or HSY?

Kraft Heinz has a beta of 0.25, suggesting that its stock price is 75% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hershey has a beta of 0.3, suggesting that its stock price is 70% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is KHC or HSY more profitable?

Hershey has a net margin of 15.32% compared to Kraft Heinz's net margin of 10.44%. Hershey's return on equity of 38.70% beat Kraft Heinz's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Kraft Heinz	10.44%	7.37%	4.06%
Hershey	15.32%	38.70%	13.12%

Which has higher earnings & valuation, KHC or HSY?

Kraft Heinz has higher revenue and earnings than Hershey. Kraft Heinz is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Hershey, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Kraft Heinz	$25.43B	1.24	$2.74B	$2.19	12.16
Hershey	$11.20B	3.13	$2.22B	$8.11	21.33

Does the media favor KHC or HSY?

In the previous week, Hershey had 16 more articles in the media than Kraft Heinz. MarketBeat recorded 46 mentions for Hershey and 30 mentions for Kraft Heinz. Hershey's average media sentiment score of 0.73 beat Kraft Heinz's score of 0.60 indicating that Hershey is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Kraft Heinz	15 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hershey	24 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do analysts recommend KHC or HSY?

Kraft Heinz presently has a consensus target price of $30.47, suggesting a potential upside of 14.42%. Hershey has a consensus target price of $158.84, suggesting a potential downside of 8.18%. Given Kraft Heinz's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Kraft Heinz is more favorable than Hershey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Kraft Heinz	3 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.83
Hershey	5 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.75

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of KHC or HSY?

78.2% of Kraft Heinz shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.0% of Hershey shares are held by institutional investors. 0.4% of Kraft Heinz shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Hershey shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Hershey beats Kraft Heinz on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.