Bank of America Lowers Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Price Target to $200.00

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) had its price objective cut by Bank of America from $210.00 to $200.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential upside of 8.71% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Argus dropped their price target on Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays lowered their target price on Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $179.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.67.

Hershey Trading Up 0.7 %

Hershey stock traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $183.98. 475,873 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,860,858. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.29. Hershey has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $248.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.19, a PEG ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total transaction of $306,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,614,615.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock worth $859,950 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 14.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,341,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,372,965,000 after purchasing an additional 2,158,912 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $349,448,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,487,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,327,000 after buying an additional 90,329 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 781,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,715,000 after buying an additional 112,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 777,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $145,006,000 after buying an additional 19,018 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.