Bank of America Cuts Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Price Target to $200.00

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) had its price target cut by analysts at Bank of America from $220.00 to $200.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.13% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on HSY. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore upgraded shares of Hershey from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.50.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $183.27 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $186.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.22. Hershey has a 12-month low of $160.07 and a 12-month high of $239.48. The company has a market capitalization of $37.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.Hershey’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total value of $260,145.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,695 shares in the company, valued at $9,485,753.85. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Syon Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co raised its stake in Hershey by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Hershey by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Finally, ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.