Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Hershey (NYSE:HSY) to Underperform

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have a $163.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $184.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target points to a potential downside of 15.68% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Hershey in a research report on Monday, August 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $185.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $198.63.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $193.32 on Thursday. Hershey has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The stock has a market cap of $39.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 0.37. 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 firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $194.04.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. Hershey’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 9.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total value of $286,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 34,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,729.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,912.46. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total transaction of $286,245.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 34,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,531,729.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,341,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,372,965,000 after purchasing an additional 2,158,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Hershey by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,487,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,327,000 after purchasing an additional 90,329 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Hershey by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,743,000 after purchasing an additional 25,780 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 23.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 783,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,962,000 after purchasing an additional 147,215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 781,967 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,715,000 after purchasing an additional 112,304 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hershey Company Profile

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.