Stifel Nicolaus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Stock Price

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $215.00 to $180.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.55% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on HSY. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research cut shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.94.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $170.53 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $181.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Hershey has a twelve month low of $161.43 and a twelve month high of $239.48. The company has a market capitalization of $34.59 billion, a PE ratio of 31.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.11.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Hershey will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions 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, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total transaction of $260,145.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,695 shares in the company, valued at $9,485,753.85. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hershey

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,469,855,000 after purchasing an additional 191,671 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,106,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,657,189,000 after buying an additional 169,660 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,253,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,356,681,000 after buying an additional 128,982 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,315,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $967,343,000 after buying an additional 124,464 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,831,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,434,000 after buying an additional 104,024 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.