The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the twenty-one ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and sixteen have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $163.05.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on HSY. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bernstein Bank lowered their price target on Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Hershey from $184.00 to $148.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $41,144.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.28% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hershey

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hershey by 66.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after buying an additional 389,404 shares during the period. Woodstock Corp lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 34.8% during the 4th quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 6,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,168,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780 shares during the period. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $1,939,000. Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 59.8% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 3,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic increased its stake in Hershey by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 8,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of HSY opened at $164.42 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.28 billion, a PE ratio of 15.08, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $168.38 and its 200-day moving average is $170.93. Hershey has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. Equities research analysts forecast that Hershey will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.28%.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.