The Hershey Company Forecasted to Post Q2 2024 Earnings of $1.34 Per Share (NYSE:HSY)

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) – Stock analysts at DA Davidson issued their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Hershey in a report issued on Monday, May 6th. DA Davidson analyst B. Holland anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of $1.34 for the quarter. The consensus estimate for Hershey’s current full-year earnings is $9.60 per share. DA Davidson also issued estimates for Hershey’s FY2024 earnings at $9.63 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $9.75 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on HSY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $213.06.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $196.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $40.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $192.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.80. Hershey has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $275.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 earnings per share.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 125.3% during the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

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.