Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Rating Lowered to Underperform at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) from a hold rating to an underperform rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has $163.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $184.00.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Argus downgraded shares of Hershey from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $198.63.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $193.36 on Thursday. Hershey has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The company has a market capitalization of $39.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.37. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $193.98. 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 results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,912.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,912.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total transaction of $286,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,729.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 21.1% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 15,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,828,000 after buying an additional 2,646 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Hershey by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 89,870 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,755,000 after acquiring an additional 5,119 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Hershey by 44,500.0% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in Hershey by 113.4% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 1,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 10,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 2,988 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.