Hershey (HSY) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a global confectionery and snack food company headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Founded by Milton S. Hershey in 1894, the company began as a chocolate manufacturer and has grown into one of the largest producers of confectionery products in North America.

Hershey’s portfolio includes chocolate, candy, gum, mints, protein bars and salty snacks. Its well-known brands include Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot’s. The company sells products through grocery stores, convenience stores, mass retailers, vending channels and e-commerce platforms.

Hershey serves consumers in the United States and markets its products internationally, including in Canada, Mexico and other countries. Its business is organized around confectionery and snack categories, with manufacturing, distribution and marketing operations supporting both its established brands and newer product offerings.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $157.44 to $163.13
• 50-Day Range: $157.81 to $189.92
• 52-Week Range: $157.44 to $239.48
• Volume: 2.03 million shs
• Average Volume: 1.38 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $31.71 billion
• P/E Ratio: 21.56
• Dividend Yield: 3.68%
• Price Target: $204.78
• Consensus Rating: Hold

Hershey Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Hershey scored higher than 96% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 9th out of 167 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: 4.1 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Hold

Consensus Rating

Hershey has received a consensus rating of Hold. The company's average rating score is 2.27, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 6 buy ratings, 16 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside Potential

Hershey has a consensus price target of $204.78, representing about 29.8% upside from its current price of $157.81.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Hershey has been the subject of 12 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 2.5 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 16.14%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Hershey are expected to grow by 16.14% in the coming year, from $8.49 to $9.86 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Hershey is 21.56, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 44.47.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Hershey is 21.56, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Consumer Staples sector average P/E ratio of about 13.83.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Hershey has a PEG Ratio of 1.28. 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 6.90. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

4.57% 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 6.78.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Hershey has recently increased by 0.42%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 4.2 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Leadership

Hershey is a leading dividend payer. It pays a dividend yield of 3.60%, putting its dividend yield in the top 25% of dividend-paying stocks.

Dividend Growth

Hershey has been increasing its dividend for 15 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Hershey is 79.37%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Hershey will have a dividend payout ratio of 58.92% next year. This indicates that Hershey will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.8 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.47

News Sentiment

Hershey has a news sentiment score of 0.47. 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 lower news sentiment than the 0.59 average news sentiment score of Consumer Staples companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 8 news articles for Hershey this week, compared to 9 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

20 people have searched for HSY on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 233% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

12 people have added Hershey to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 500% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 1.4 / 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 $255,000.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

0.08% 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.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 7/30/2026
• Record date for 9/15 Dividend: 8/14/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/15 Dividend: 8/14/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/15/2026
• Today: 9/30/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 10/29/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 12/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Consumer Staples
• Industry: Food Products
• Sub-Industry: Packaged Foods & Meats
• Current Symbol: NYSE:HSY
• CIK: 47111
• Web: www.thehersheycompany.com
• Phone: (717) 534-4200
• Fax: 717-534-7873
• Employees: 19,595
• Year Founded: 1894

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Hershey: $204.78
• High Price Target: $260.00
• Low Price Target: $180.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +29.8%
• Consensus Rating: Hold
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.27
• Research Coverage: 22 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $7.32
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 21.56
• Forward P/E Ratio: 18.59
• P/E Growth: 1.28
• Net Income: $883.26 million
• Net Margins: 12.24%
• Pretax Margin: 15.80%
• Return on Equity: 31.92%
• Return on Assets: 10.71%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 1.03
• Current Ratio: 1.18
• Quick Ratio: 0.66

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $11.69 billion
• Price / Sales: 2.71
• Cash Flow: $8.61 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 18.32
• Book Value: $22.86 per share
• Price / Book: 6.90

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 200,930,000
• Free Float: 200,765,000
• Market Cap: $31.71 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.11