Redburn Atlantic Begins Coverage on Hershey (NYSE:HSY)

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

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on HSY. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of Hershey in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $188.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America cut their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.50.

Hershey Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $184.77 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.86 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.37 billion, a PE ratio of 18.31, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.37. Hershey has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $211.92. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $193.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $193.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results 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). Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. Hershey’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 9.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 14.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,341,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,372,965,000 after buying an additional 2,158,912 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,487,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,327,000 after purchasing an additional 90,329 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,743,000 after purchasing an additional 25,780 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 783,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,962,000 after purchasing an additional 147,215 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 297.9% during the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 717,831 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,959,000 after purchasing an additional 537,419 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.