Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Research Coverage Started at Redburn Atlantic

Equities researchers at Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) in a report released on Tuesday, Briefing.com reports. The firm set a “sell” rating and a $165.00 price target on the stock. Redburn Atlantic’s price target indicates a potential downside of 10.70% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on HSY. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Hershey from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $184.00 to $163.00 in a report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group lowered shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $226.00 to $209.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $193.50.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $184.77 on Tuesday. Hershey has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $211.92. The stock has a market cap of $37.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $193.73 and a 200-day moving average of $193.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.86.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $644,912.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hershey

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of HSY. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 320,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,951,000 after acquiring an additional 29,246 shares during the period. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 179.4% during the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 4,468 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services bought a new stake in Hershey in the first quarter worth approximately $5,383,000. Signet Financial Management LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 59.9% in the first quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 12,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,521,000 after buying an additional 4,854 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 119.8% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 91,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,633,000 after buying an additional 50,014 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Hershey

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.