Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Earns Sell Rating from Analysts at Redburn Atlantic

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

HSY has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group downgraded Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $226.00 to $209.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $230.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.50.

Hershey Trading Down 0.6 %

HSY opened at $183.47 on Tuesday. Hershey has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $211.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $193.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.18, a P/E/G ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.37.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). The business had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The firm’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. Analysts predict that Hershey will post 9.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hershey

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 320,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,951,000 after purchasing an additional 29,246 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 179.4% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 4,468 shares in the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the 1st quarter worth $5,383,000. Signet Financial Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 59.9% in the 1st quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 12,960 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,521,000 after purchasing an additional 4,854 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in Hershey by 119.8% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 91,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,633,000 after buying an additional 50,014 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.