Redburn Atlantic Begins Coverage on Hershey (NYSE:HSY)

Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) in a research report released on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a sell rating and a $165.00 price objective on the stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $184.00 to $163.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Argus lowered Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $230.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $192.80.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $182.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $36.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $193.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $192.88. Hershey has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. The company’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Hershey will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at $644,912.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Hershey by 218.2% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 55.0% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the 1st quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

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.