Brokers Offer Predictions for The Hershey Company’s Q2 2024 Earnings (NYSE:HSY)

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) – DA Davidson issued their Q2 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Hershey in a note issued to investors on Monday, May 6th. DA Davidson analyst B. Holland anticipates that the company will post earnings of $1.34 per share 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.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, April 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.06.

Hershey Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $199.96 on Tuesday. Hershey has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $275.89. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $192.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $190.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.96 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 54.31%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hershey

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hershey by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,182,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,830,683,000 after acquiring an additional 271,636 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,453,819 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $349,448,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Hershey by 2.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,779,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,052,000 after acquiring an additional 35,393 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 0.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,170,830 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,260,000 after acquiring an additional 8,344 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is 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.