Hershey (HSY)

• Market cap: $33.9B
• 1 day: 1.28%
• 5 days: 0.75%
• 1 month: -2.25%
• 3 months: 9.89%
• 6 months: -5.81%
• Year to date: -0.95%
• 1 year: -13.78%
• 5 years: 26.25%
• 10 years: 81.89%
• Sector: Consumer Staples
• Industry: Confectioners

About: Hershey is a leading US confectionery manufacturer (around a $54 billion market, according to Euromonitor), controlling around 36% of the domestic chocolate space. Beyond its namesake label, the firm's mix has expanded over the last 85 years and now consists of 100 brands, including Reese's, Kit Kat, Kisses, and Ice Breakers. Hershey's products are sold in about 80 countries, albeit with just a high-single-digit percentage of sales coming from markets outside the US, including Brazil, India, and Mexico. The firm has sought inorganic opportunities to extend its reach beyond its core confection business, adding Amplify Snack Brands and its Skinny Pop ready-to-eat popcorn to its mix, Pirate Brands, and Dot's Pretzels over the past few years.

Employees: 20,030

Fund manager confidence

Based on 2024 Q4 regulatory disclosures by fund managers ($100M+ AUM)

113% more call options, than puts

Call options by funds: $1.3B | Put options by funds: $610M

0.29% less ownership

Funds ownership: 82.2% [Q3] → 81.91% (-0.29%) [Q4]

4% less funds holding

Funds holding: 1,373 [Q3] → 1,321 (-52) [Q4]

8% less capital invested

Capital invested by funds: $23.2B [Q3] → $21.2B (-$1.95B) [Q4]

12% less first-time investments, than exits

New positions opened: 183 | Existing positions closed: 209

17% less repeat investments, than reductions

Existing positions increased: 429 | Existing positions reduced: 518

33% less funds holding in top 10

Funds holding in top 10: 9 [Q3] → 6 (-3) [Q4]

Research analyst outlook

9 Wall Street Analysts provided 1 year price targets over the past 3 months

• Low target: $120 28% downside
• Avg. target: $157 6% downside
• High target: $178 6% upside

9 analyst ratings

• positive: 0 0%
• neutral: 7 78%
• negative: 2 22%

UBS Peter Grom 50% 1-year accuracy 15 / 30 met price target	5% upside $175	Neutral Maintained	17 Apr 2025
Morgan Stanley Megan Alexander 67% 1-year accuracy 10 / 15 met price target	6% upside $177	Equal-Weight Maintained	17 Apr 2025
Citigroup Thomas Palmer 41% 1-year accuracy 12 / 29 met price target	1% downside $165	Neutral Maintained	15 Apr 2025
Wells Fargo Chris Carey 43% 1-year accuracy 22 / 51 met price target	21% downside $132	Underweight Maintained	14 Mar 2025
Barclays Andrew Lazar 37% 1-year accuracy 7 / 19 met price target	4% downside $160	Equal-Weight Maintained	10 Feb 2025