Hershey (HSY) Set to Announce Quarterly Earnings on Friday

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) is scheduled to be announcing its earnings results before the market opens on Friday, May 3rd. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $2.72 per share for the quarter. Hershey has set its FY24 guidance at $9.59 EPS and its FY 2024 guidance at 9.590-9.590 EPS.Investors interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. On average, analysts expect Hershey to post $10 EPS for the current fiscal year and $10 EPS for the next fiscal year.

Hershey Trading Up 0.8 %

HSY opened at $193.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $39.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.43, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Hershey has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $276.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $191.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.66.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. BNP Paribas lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $212.78.

About Hershey

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.