Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Price Target Cut to $200.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $205.00 to $200.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 10.17% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on HSY. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY traded down $1.78 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $181.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,152,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,983,677. Hershey has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $276.88. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $193.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $191.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $37.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,518 shares of company stock worth $1,066,414. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,182,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,830,683,000 after acquiring an additional 271,636 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 9.1% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,489,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $886,746,000 after purchasing an additional 290,920 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 57.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,352,000 after purchasing an additional 964,019 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 143.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,819 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter worth about $349,448,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.