Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Edward Jones

Hershey (NYSE:HSY)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by Edward Jones in a report released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

HSY has been the subject of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley cut Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $184.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Hershey has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $276.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $192.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $191.07.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Hershey will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,634,329.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,634,329.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $670,244. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of HSY. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $349,448,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Hershey by 143.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,819 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Hershey by 2,693.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,094,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $237,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055,559 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Hershey by 57.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,352,000 after acquiring an additional 964,019 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Hershey by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,378,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,202,000 after purchasing an additional 369,940 shares during the period. 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.