DA Davidson Has Positive Outlook for Hershey FY2025 Earnings

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) – Stock analysts at DA Davidson boosted their FY2025 earnings per share estimates for Hershey in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, November 10th. DA Davidson analyst B. Holland now anticipates that the company will earn $5.96 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $5.89. DA Davidson has a “Neutral” rating and a $185.00 price target on the stock. The consensus estimate for Hershey’s current full-year earnings is $6.12 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Hershey’s FY2026 earnings at $6.50 EPS.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on HSY. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley restated a “mixed” rating and set a $184.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Hershey from $155.00 to $179.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $222.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.05.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $172.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $35.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.93, a PEG ratio of 4.21 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.53, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $184.33 and a 200 day moving average of $176.18. Hershey has a 12 month low of $140.13 and a 12 month high of $208.03.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 21.5% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 51,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,742,000 after purchasing an additional 9,053 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Hershey by 40.4% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 3,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Hershey by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 42,691 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,301,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 15.2% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 8,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey by 45.9% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $526,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.52, for a total transaction of $281,280.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 56,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,654,698.88. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 81.91%.

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.