Piper Sandler affirmed a neutral rating on Hershey (HSY).

Piper Sandler maintained its neutral recommendation for the company’s shares Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Free Report) – according to Benzinga, in a research note published on Friday. Piper Sandler’s stock price target is currently $179.00.

Several other equity research analysts have also recently published reports on HSY. Argus lowered their target price on Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. BNP Paribas downgraded Hershey from “outperform” to “neutral” and set a price target for the company at $208.00. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26. On Friday, April 19, Edward Jones affirmed a hold rating on shares of Hershey. Royal Bank of Canada maintained a sector rating and set a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey on Friday, March 15. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an equal rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One of the investment analysts rated the company’s shares with a sell recommendation, fourteen of them gave a hold recommendation, and four gave a buy recommendation. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $209.67.

Check out our latest research report on HSY

Hershey Price Performance

On Friday, NYSE:HSY began trading at $182.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $194.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $192.25. The company has a market value of $36.83 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt to equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.97. Hershey has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $261.58.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported EPS of $3.07 for the quarter, missing the analyst consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey achieved a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was $3.25 billion, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 per share. Hershey’s quarterly revenue increased 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect Hershey to report 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey announces dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14. Record investors received a dividend of $1.37 per share on Friday, May 17. The dividend payment date was Thursday, May 16. This represents a dividend of $5.48 on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Hershey insider activity

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90 for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal document filed with the SEC, which is available on the SEC’s website. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock worth $882,405. 0.34% of the shares belong to corporate insiders.

Institutional inflows and outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their position in the industry. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in Hershey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth $153,000. In the fourth quarter, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in Hershey stock by 1,263.3%. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 13,997 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth $2,332,000. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at $4,173,000. The owners of 57.96% of the shares are institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Hershey

(Get the free report)

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells confectionery and pantry products in the United States and abroad. The company operates in three segments: North American Sweets, North American Salty Snacks and International Products. Offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gum and bubble gum; protein bars; pantry items such as baking ingredients, icings, drinks and ice cream syrups; and snacks including spreads, bars, snacks, mixes, popcorn and pretzels.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey announces dividend

Hershey insider activity

Institutional inflows and outflows

About Hershey

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