Bank of America Increases Hershey (NYSE:HSY) Price Target to $210.00

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) had its target price hoisted by research analysts at Bank of America from $200.00 to $210.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 10.88% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on HSY. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $181.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley raised Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $195.00 to $211.00 in a research report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $184.95.

Hershey Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $189.40 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.31 and a beta of 0.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.33. Hershey has a 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $199.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.06 by $0.24. Hershey had a return on equity of 32.08% and a net margin of 11.84%.The business had revenue of $3.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. Hershey has set its FY 2025 guidance at 5.900-6.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.51, for a total value of $282,765.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 53,819 shares in the company, valued at $10,145,419.69. This trade represents a 2.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Kirk Tanner purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $185.46 per share, for a total transaction of $370,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 47,860 shares in the company, valued at $8,876,115.60. This represents a 4.36% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 6,000 shares of company stock worth $1,102,725 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hershey

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 1,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 4.9% during the second quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Bellevue Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 13.5% in the third quarter. Bellevue Asset Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 12.3% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in Hershey by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 798 shares of the company’s stock worth $149,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hershey Company Profile

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.