Hershey (HSY) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility and risk, HSY or KHC?

Hershey has a beta of 0.27, suggesting that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kraft Heinz has a beta of 0.23, suggesting that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Is HSY or KHC more profitable?

Hershey has a net margin of 13.54% compared to Kraft Heinz's net margin of -20.83%. Hershey's return on equity of 37.36% beat Kraft Heinz's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hershey	13.54%	37.36%	12.73%
Kraft Heinz	-20.83%	7.40%	4.01%

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, HSY or KHC?

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
Hershey	$11.20B	3.41	$2.22B	$7.53	25.06
Kraft Heinz	$25.85B	1.26	$2.74B	-$4.49	-6.10

Does the media prefer HSY or KHC?

In the previous week, Hershey had 27 more articles in the media than Kraft Heinz. MarketBeat recorded 85 mentions for Hershey and 58 mentions for Kraft Heinz. Hershey's average media sentiment score of 0.89 beat Kraft Heinz's score of 0.76 indicating that Hershey is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hershey	37 Very Positive mention(s)	9 Positive mention(s)	25 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Kraft Heinz	22 Very Positive mention(s)	6 Positive mention(s)	21 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Do institutionals & insiders believe in HSY or KHC?

58.0% of Hershey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.2% of Kraft Heinz shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Hershey shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Kraft Heinz shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Is HSY or KHC a better dividend stock?

Hershey pays an annual dividend of $5.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.9%. Kraft Heinz pays an annual dividend of $1.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Hershey pays out 72.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Kraft Heinz pays out -35.6% 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 increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Kraft Heinz is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts recommend HSY or KHC?

Hershey currently has a consensus target price of $168.37, suggesting a potential downside of 10.77%. Kraft Heinz has a consensus target price of $30.35, suggesting a potential upside of 10.74%. 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
Hershey	5 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.75
Kraft Heinz	3 Sell rating(s)	15 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.83

Summary

Hershey beats Kraft Heinz on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.