Hershey (HSY) Competitors

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

Is HSY or MDLZ more profitable?

Hershey has a net margin of 19.83% compared to Mondelez International's net margin of 12.68%. Hershey's return on equity of 44.77% beat Mondelez International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Hershey	19.83%	44.77%	15.14%
Mondelez International	12.68%	16.75%	6.38%

Which has more risk & volatility, HSY or MDLZ?

Hershey has a beta of 0.28, indicating that its share price is 72% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Mondelez International has a beta of 0.47, indicating that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate HSY or MDLZ?

Hershey presently has a consensus target price of $160.85, indicating a potential downside of 0.53%. Mondelez International has a consensus target price of $70.55, indicating a potential upside of 4.27%. Given Mondelez International's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Mondelez International 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
Mondelez International	1 Sell rating(s)	8 Hold rating(s)	13 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.55

Is HSY or MDLZ a better dividend stock?

Hershey pays an annual dividend of $5.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Mondelez International pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.8%. Hershey pays out 50.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Mondelez International pays out 55.0% 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 and Mondelez International has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Hershey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor HSY or MDLZ?

Mondelez International received 290 more outperform votes than Hershey when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.25% of users gave Mondelez International an outperform vote while only 50.71% of users gave Hershey an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Hershey	Outperform Votes 605 50.71%	Underperform Votes 588 49.29%
Mondelez International	Outperform Votes 895 70.25%	Underperform Votes 379 29.75%

Do institutionals & insiders hold more shares of HSY or MDLZ?

58.0% of Hershey shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 78.3% of Mondelez International shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Hershey shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Mondelez International shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Which has stronger valuation & earnings, HSY or MDLZ?

Mondelez International has higher revenue and earnings than Hershey. Hershey is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mondelez International, 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	2.92	$2.22B	$10.90	14.84
Mondelez International	$36.44B	2.40	$4.61B	$3.42	19.78

Does the media refer more to HSY or MDLZ?

In the previous week, Mondelez International had 14 more articles in the media than Hershey. MarketBeat recorded 62 mentions for Mondelez International and 48 mentions for Hershey. Mondelez International's average media sentiment score of 0.95 beat Hershey's score of 0.92 indicating that Mondelez International is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Hershey	24 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	5 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Mondelez International	31 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	12 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Mondelez International beats Hershey on 13 of the 21 factors compared between the two stocks.