Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Shares Break Above Fifty Day Moving Average Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday after HSBC raised their price target on the stock from $211.00 to $249.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.38 and traded as high as $171.41. HSBC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Hershey shares last traded at $171.2440, with a volume of 1,997,510 shares trading hands.

HSY has been the subject of several other research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Hershey from $166.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $224.00 to $204.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.81.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,303,889,000. GQG Partners LLC bought a new position in Hershey during the second quarter worth $485,436,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Hershey during the second quarter worth $274,871,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Hershey during the second quarter worth $183,623,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Hershey by 315.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,083,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,285,000 after purchasing an additional 822,772 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.10. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $188.91.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The company reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.53. Hershey had a net margin of 12.24% and a return on equity of 31.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.61 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be given a $1.4520 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 65.72%.

About Hershey

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

Hershey’s portfolio includes chocolate, non-chocolate confectionery, gum and mints, and salty snacks. Its brands include Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses, Kit Kat in the United States under license from Nestlé, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Ice Breakers, SkinnyPop and Dot’s Pretzels.