Royal Bank of Canada Lowers Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Price Target to $183.00

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) had its price target reduced by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $205.00 to $183.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 4.17% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $205.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fourteen have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $190.56.

Hershey Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Hershey stock traded up $2.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $175.67. 3,115,302 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,375,510. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $35.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $189.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $192.13. Hershey has a 1-year low of $171.67 and a 1-year high of $211.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported $2.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.50 by ($0.16). Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The firm had revenue of $2.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.07 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Hershey will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,912.46. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hershey

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Hershey by 218.2% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 140 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 55.0% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors 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.