The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) saw unusually-high trading volume on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $220.00 to $230.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Approximately 333,644 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the previous session's volume of 1,080,344 shares.The stock last traded at $237.20 and had previously closed at $236.28.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $255.00 to $277.00 in a report on Thursday. 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. BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of Hershey in a research report on Tuesday, November 15th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $235.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 7th. Finally, Erste Group Bank lowered shares of Hershey from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $243.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Hershey Trust Co sold 8,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $230.83, for a total value of $1,985,138.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 39,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,147,792.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Hershey news, major shareholder Hershey Trust Co sold 8,600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $230.83, for a total transaction of $1,985,138.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 39,630 shares in the company, valued at $9,147,792.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Malcolm sold 2,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $237.24, for a total transaction of $521,928.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 12,779 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

Hershey Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 0.80 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $229.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $227.50. The company has a market cap of $48.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.68, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.35.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.25. Hershey had a return on equity of 57.76% and a net margin of 15.79%. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.58 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.69 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

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

Hershey Company Profile

(Get Rating)

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.

Featured Stories

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Hershey (HSY)
• 2023 Consumer Lending Study – Trends, Statistics, and Forecast
• Here's the Silver Lining with Snap Stock Earnings Collapse
• Mullen Automotive Stock, The Tide Has Turned
• Is BigBear.ai Stock a Diamond in the Rough?
• Apple: What's The Post-Earnings Play?

Receive News & Ratings for Hershey Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Hershey and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.