Hershey (HSY) Competitors $181.48 +2.12 (+1.18%) Closing price 08/22/2025 03:59 PM EasternExtended Trading$181.40 -0.08 (-0.04%) As of 08/22/2025 07:39 PM Eastern Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Polygon.io. Learn more. Add Compare Share Share Competitors Stock AnalysisAnalyst ForecastsChartCompetitorsDividendEarningsFinancialsHeadlinesInsider TradesOptions ChainOwnershipSEC FilingsShort InterestSustainabilityTrendsBuy This Stock HSY vs. KHC, MDLZ, CHD, COTY, GIS, HRL, K, LW, MKC, and POSTShould you be buying Hershey stock or one of its competitors? The main competitors of Hershey include Kraft Heinz (KHC), Mondelez International (MDLZ), Church & Dwight (CHD), Coty (COTY), General Mills (GIS), Hormel Foods (HRL), Kellanova (K), Lamb Weston (LW), McCormick & Company, Incorporated (MKC), and Post (POST). Hershey vs. Its Competitors Kraft Heinz Mondelez International Church & Dwight Coty General Mills Hormel Foods Kellanova Lamb Weston McCormick & Company, Incorporated Post Kraft Heinz (NASDAQ:KHC) and Hershey (NYSE:HSY) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, risk, dividends, media sentiment, institutional ownership and valuation. Which has more volatility & risk, KHC or HSY? Kraft Heinz has a beta of 0.23, suggesting that its share price is 77% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hershey has a beta of 0.27, suggesting that its share price is 73% less volatile than the S&P 500. Which has higher valuation & earnings, 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. CompanyGross RevenuePrice/Sales RatioNet IncomeEarnings Per SharePrice/Earnings RatioKraft Heinz$25.85B1.28$2.74B-$4.49-6.25Hershey$11.20B3.28$2.22B$7.5324.10 Do insiders & institutionals have more ownership in 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 company insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Hershey shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth. Do analysts prefer KHC or HSY? Kraft Heinz presently has a consensus price target of $30.12, indicating a potential upside of 7.33%. Hershey has a consensus price target of $170.83, indicating a potential downside of 5.86%. Given Kraft Heinz's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research 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) 16 Hold rating(s) 0 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 1.84Hershey 4 Sell rating(s) 14 Hold rating(s) 0 Buy rating(s) 0 Strong Buy rating(s) 1.78 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 5.7%. Hershey pays an annual dividend of $5.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.0%. Kraft Heinz pays out -35.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hershey pays out 72.8% 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. Kraft Heinz is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio. Is KHC or HSY 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 Kraft Heinz-20.83% 7.40% 4.01% Hershey 13.54%37.36%12.73% Does the media favor KHC or HSY? In the previous week, Hershey had 16 more articles in the media than Kraft Heinz. MarketBeat recorded 45 mentions for Hershey and 29 mentions for Kraft Heinz. Kraft Heinz's average media sentiment score of 1.26 beat Hershey's score of 0.94 indicating that Kraft Heinz is being referred to more favorably in the media. Company Very Positive Positive Neutral Negative Very Negative Overall Sentiment Kraft Heinz 20 Very Positive mention(s) 2 Positive mention(s) 5 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 0 Very Negative mention(s) Positive Hershey 23 Very Positive mention(s) 2 Positive mention(s) 12 Neutral mention(s) 0 Negative mention(s) 1 Very Negative mention(s) Positive SummaryKraft Heinz and Hershey tied by winning 9 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks. Get Hershey News Delivered to You Automatically Sign up to receive the latest news and ratings for HSY and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter. Email Address New MarketBeat Followers Over TimeWhat are MarkeBeat Followers?This chart shows the number of new MarketBeat users adding HSY and its top 5 competitors to their watchlist. Each company is represented with a line over a 90 day period. Skip ChartMedia Sentiment Over TimeWhat is Media Sentiment?This chart shows the average media sentiment of NYSE and its competitors over the past 90 days as caculated by MarketBeat. The averaged score is equivalent to the following: Very Negative Sentiment <= -1.5, Negative Sentiment > -1.5 and <= -0.5, Neutral Sentiment > -0.5 and < 0.5, Positive Sentiment >= 0.5 and < 1.5, and Very Positive Sentiment >= 1.5.Skip Chart HSY vs. The Competition Export to ExcelMetricHersheyFOOD IndustryStaples SectorNYSE ExchangeMarket Cap$36.78B$14.25B$16.61B$21.32BDividend Yield3.02%1.96%3.02%3.51%P/E Ratio24.1025.7718.7229.14Price / Sales3.283.2247.4555.22Price / Cash15.5419.2815.0924.09Price / Book8.154.395.825.47Net Income$2.22B$815.79M$687.69M$992.74M7 Day Performance1.97%3.96%0.67%2.68%1 Month Performance-0.96%-2.07%-2.32%1.53%1 Year Performance-7.55%8.45%5.27%10.77% Hershey Competitors List Export to ExcelCompanyMarketRankShare PriceAnalysts' Price Target1Y Price PerformanceMarket CapRevenueP/E RatioEmployee CountIndicator(s)HSYHershey3.9037 of 5 stars$181.48+1.2%$170.83-5.9%-7.2%$36.78B$11.20B24.1020,030Analyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionKHCKraft Heinz4.5786 of 5 stars$27.27-1.5%$30.35+11.3%-21.0%$32.28B$25.85B-6.0736,000Positive NewsDividend AnnouncementAnalyst ForecastMDLZMondelez International4.8194 of 5 stars$61.80-0.5%$71.95+16.4%-10.5%$79.91B$36.44B22.6290,000Trending NewsAnalyst ForecastAnalyst RevisionCHDChurch & Dwight4.5689 of 5 stars$92.90+0.5%$103.94+11.9%-7.5%$22.64B$6.07B43.855,750Positive NewsCOTYCoty4.5595 of 5 stars$4.99+1.3%$7.80+56.4%-60.9%$4.35B$6.00B-10.3911,791Trending NewsEarnings ReportAnalyst ForecastOptions VolumeGISGeneral Mills4.5248 of 5 stars$49.28-0.8%$59.73+21.2%-29.0%$26.73B$19.49B12.0233,000Positive NewsAnalyst ForecastHRLHormel Foods4.6058 of 5 stars$28.27-0.8%$32.86+16.2%-8.5%$15.56B$11.92B20.8120,000News CoveragePositive NewsUpcoming EarningsAnalyst UpgradeKKellanova3.1526 of 5 stars$80.03-0.2%$83.38+4.2%-0.7%$27.82B$12.75B21.0024,000Positive NewsAnalyst ForecastInsider TradeLWLamb Weston4.5573 of 5 stars$54.24+0.2%$67.40+24.3%-8.9%$7.55B$6.45B21.6010,100News CoveragePositive NewsAnalyst ForecastMKCMcCormick & Company, Incorporated3.9711 of 5 stars$68.45-1.8%$83.00+21.3%-8.2%$18.36B$6.72B23.7614,100News CoveragePositive NewsAnalyst UpgradePOSTPost4.2367 of 5 stars$107.77-0.7%$131.25+21.8%-0.9%$5.86B$7.92B18.3411,480Trending NewsAnalyst ForecastInsider Trade Related Companies and Tools Related Companies Kraft Heinz Alternatives Mondelez International Alternatives Church & Dwight Alternatives Coty Alternatives General Mills Alternatives Hormel Foods Alternatives Kellanova Alternatives Lamb Weston Alternatives McCormick & Company, Incorporated Alternatives Post Alternatives Top 10 Stock Comparisons Semiconductor Stocks Artificial Intelligence Stocks Growth Stocks Magnificent Seven Stocks Pharmaceutical Stocks Ecommerce Stocks Bitcoin Stocks Meme Stocks Cryptocurrency Stocks Cybersecurity Stocks This page (NYSE:HSY) was last updated on 8/23/2025 by MarketBeat.com Staff From Our PartnersBONUS GUIDE - Ben Stein Prepares For the Next Financial CrisisWith inflation high, debt soaring, and global tensions rising, a financial storm may be brewing. 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