The stock of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) decreased by -$3.39 on Tuesday to finish at $209.07, down -1.60 percent. The last five days have seen an average of 1,486,660 shares of common stock traded. 22 times new highs were reached in the current year, with a fall of -$22.50. The average number of shares traded over the last 20 days was 1,232,425, while the average volume over the last 50 days totaled 1,269,064.
HSY stock dropped -4.44% since last month. On 09/12/23, the company’s shares reached a one-month low of $206.69. The stock touched a high of $276.88 on 05/01/23, after rallying from a low of $206.69 in 52 weeks. The price of HSY stock has declined by -9.72% or -$22.50 this year, reaching a new high 22 times. Still, the stock price is down -24.49% from the 52-week high.
Insider Transactions
HSY stock investors should be aware that The Hershey Company (HSY) stock had its last reported insider trading activity 28 days ago on Aug 23. On Aug 23, SVP, Chief Financial Officer Voskuil Steven E sold 1,500 shares at $214.36 each. This transaction resulted in the insider making $321,540. On Jul 14, Buck Michele sold 14,251 shares at a price of US$238.73. After the transaction, the insider now owns 111,751 shares. Director Arway Pamela M had earlier sold 187 shares on Jul 11 for $241.66 a share. The transaction was completed for $45,190.
Valuation Metrics
The Hershey Company (HSY) has a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 25.28. Beta for the stock is 0.29. There are also a few other valuation ratios worth considering, including the trailing price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 3.93, the price-to-book (PB) ratio of 11.58, and the price-to-cash flow ratio of 25.76.
Company paid $1.1920 per share in dividends, an increase of 15.06% from $1.0360 last year. A $0.1560 dividend increase was reported on Wednesday July 26 2023.
Financial Health
For the three months ended June 29, The Hershey Company’s quick ratio was 0.50, while its current ratio was 1.10, indicating its inability to pay off its debt. The company’s long-term debt to equity ratio for the quarter ending June 29 is 1.11, and the total debt to equity ratio is 1.34. As far as profitability goes, gross margin for the trailing twelve months is 43.90% percent. The Hershey Company’s EBITDA margin for the year ended June 29 was 24.56%, whereas its operating margin stood at 20.30% for the same period. Based on annual data, it had gross profit of $4.5 billion and revenue of $10.42 billion.
Investors will also look at the performance of the company’s management in order to determine the potential profitability of their investment. HSY’s return on assets (ROA) during the last 12 months has been 16.10%. There was a 22.30% return on investment (ROI) in the past year. In the meantime, the return on equity (ROE) for the last 12 months was 52.90%.
Earnings Surprise
According to The Hershey Company’s quarterly financial report for the quarter that ended June 29. A lower net income was reported in the quarter under review than the previous quarter. Net income for the quarter came in at $2.49 billion, while revenues rose by 4.74% to $2.99 billion. It was predicted that The Hershey Company’s quarterly earnings would be $2.01, but it ended up being $1.91, beating the consensus by 5.20%. EBITDA was $662.25 million for the quarter. At the end of The Hershey Company’s most recent quarter ended June 29, its liabilities totaled 7.83 billion, while its total debt was $5.28 billion. Equity owned by shareholders amounts to $204.47 million.
Technical Picture
Here’s a quick look at The Hershey Company’s (HSY) price momentum from a technical perspective. As of 19 September, the RSI 9-day stood at 36.74%, suggesting the stock is Neutral, with a 18.00% historical volatility rate.
The stochastic %K and %D were 34.82% and 37.08% respectively, while the average true range (ATR) was 3.29. Based on the 14-day stochastic reading of 17.99%, the RSI (14) reading is 35.15%. On the 9-day MACD Oscillator, the stock is at 0.96, and the 14-day reading is at -0.24.
Analyst Ratings
In its analyst report released on September 13, 2023, TD Cowen began covering The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY). The stock was rated as an Outperform by the brokerage firm. Analysts have assigned The Hershey Company (HSY) an Overweight rating. HSY is a stock that is recommended for selling by 0 brokerage firms, while 12 companies recommend holding. The stock is underweighted by 2 analysts. Among the analysts who rate the stock, 0 rates it overweight and 8 others recommend it as a buy.
What is HSY’s price target for the next 12 months?
The current consensus forecast for the stock is between $227.00 and $300.00, with a median target price of $260.00. In analyzing these forecasts, the average price target given by analysts for The Hershey Company (HSY) is $260.53.
