The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) to Post Q1 2023 Earnings of $2.66 Per Share, Jefferies Financial Group Forecasts

Defense World · Feb 6, 2023 14:41

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) – Jefferies Financial Group increased their Q1 2023 EPS estimates for shares of Hershey in a note issued to investors on Thursday, February 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group analyst R. Dickerson now expects that the company will earn $2.66 per share for the quarter, up from their prior estimate of $2.62. The consensus estimate for Hershey's current full-year earnings is $9.39 per share. Jefferies Financial Group also issued estimates for Hershey's Q2 2023 earnings at $2.04 EPS, Q3 2023 earnings at $2.54 EPS, Q4 2023 earnings at $2.17 EPS, FY2023 earnings at $9.40 EPS, Q2 2024 earnings at $2.21 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $2.69 EPS and FY2024 earnings at $10.05 EPS.

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A number of other brokerages have also commented on HSY. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Hershey from $255.00 to $277.00 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Hershey from $231.00 to $246.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of Hershey in a research report on Tuesday, November 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $235.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $236.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $243.71.

Hershey Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of HSY opened at $236.28 on Monday. Hershey has a 52 week low of $193.09 and a 52 week high of $242.63. The firm has a market cap of $48.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 0.35. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $229.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $227.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.80.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.25. Hershey had a net margin of 15.79% and a return on equity of 57.76%. The business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.58 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.69 EPS. Hershey's quarterly revenue was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $1.036 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, February 16th. This represents a $4.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is 52.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Malcolm sold 2,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.24, for a total value of $521,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,031,689.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 1,512 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $236.38, for a total value of $357,406.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,241,478.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Malcolm sold 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.24, for a total transaction of $521,928.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 12,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,031,689.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,023 shares of company stock worth $9,293,587. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hershey

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Hershey by 2,693.0% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,094,755 shares of the company's stock worth $237,156,000 after buying an additional 1,055,559 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 20.0% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 3,671,367 shares of the company's stock valued at $789,931,000 after purchasing an additional 611,100 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in Hershey by 3.4% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,486,327 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,193,800,000 after acquiring an additional 473,552 shares in the last quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE grew its stake in Hershey by 185.9% during the third quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE now owns 621,923 shares of the company's stock valued at $137,115,000 after acquiring an additional 404,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 55.3% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 960,944 shares of the company's stock worth $206,756,000 after buying an additional 342,187 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.17% of the company's stock.

Hershey Company Profile

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The Hershey Co engages in the manufacture and marketing of chocolate, sweets, mints and confectionery products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: North America and International and Other. The North America is responsible for the traditional chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery market position of the company, as well as its grocery and snacks market positions, in the United States and Canada.