Stock analysts at Jefferies Group upped their price objective on shares of Hershey (NYSE:HSY) from $85.00 to $87.00 in a report issued on Friday, Analyst Ratings Network reports. The firm currently has a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Group’s price objective points to a potential downside of 7.90% from the stock’s previous close.
Shares of Hershey (NYSE: HSY) traded up 0.60% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $94.46. Hershey has a one year low of $68.09 and a one year high of $94.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average is currently $90.. The company has a market cap of $21.134 billion and a P/E ratio of 30.50.
Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.71 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.66 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Hershey will post $3.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
HSY has been the subject of a number of other recent research reports. Analysts at Zacks reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note to investors on Friday. They now have a $99.00 price target on the stock. Separately, analysts at Barclays Capital raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $92.00 to $97.00 in a research note to investors on Friday. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, analysts at BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note to investors on Friday. They now have a $95.00 price target on the stock, up previously from $86.00.
One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $89.53.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which is scheduled for Friday, September 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.49 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 21st. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42.
The Hershey Company is a producer of chocolate in North America and a provider in chocolate and sugar confectionery.