DA Davidson Issues Negative Estimate for Hershey Earnings

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) – Research analysts at DA Davidson decreased their Q3 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Hershey in a research note issued on Thursday, October 24th. DA Davidson analyst B. Holland now forecasts that the company will earn $2.48 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $2.71. The consensus estimate for Hershey’s current full-year earnings is $9.47 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Hershey’s FY2024 earnings at $9.38 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.11 EPS.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on HSY. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on Hershey from $191.00 to $199.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup lowered Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Hershey from $179.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $192.80.

Hershey Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $182.20 on Friday. Hershey has a 52 week low of $178.82 and a 52 week high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $193.04 and its 200 day moving average is $192.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.06, a PEG ratio of 5.44 and a beta of 0.37.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,341,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,372,965,000 after acquiring an additional 2,158,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Hershey by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,487,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,327,000 after purchasing an additional 90,329 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Hershey by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,743,000 after purchasing an additional 25,780 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 23.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 783,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,962,000 after buying an additional 147,215 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 297.9% in the 2nd quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 717,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,959,000 after buying an additional 537,419 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,912.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

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.