Hershey (HSY) Competitors

Mondelez International (NASDAQ:MDLZ) and Hershey (NYSE:HSY) are both large-cap consumer staples companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, community ranking, media sentiment and dividends.

Is MDLZ or HSY a better dividend stock?

Mondelez International pays an annual dividend of $1.88 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.2%. Hershey pays an annual dividend of $5.48 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Mondelez International pays out 66.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Hershey pays out 63.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Mondelez International has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and Hershey has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Hershey is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, MDLZ or HSY?

Mondelez International has a beta of 0.54, suggesting that its share price is 46% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Hershey has a beta of 0.38, suggesting that its share price is 62% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals & insiders believe in MDLZ or HSY?

78.3% of Mondelez International shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 58.0% of Hershey shares are held by institutional investors. 0.3% of Mondelez International shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of Hershey shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Do analysts recommend MDLZ or HSY?

Mondelez International presently has a consensus price target of $72.76, suggesting a potential upside of 25.48%. Hershey has a consensus price target of $170.05, suggesting a potential upside of 13.98%. Given Mondelez International's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Mondelez International is more favorable than Hershey.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mondelez International	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	12 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.71
Hershey	7 Sell rating(s)	13 Hold rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	1.65

Is MDLZ or HSY more profitable?

Hershey has a net margin of 16.17% compared to Mondelez International's net margin of 10.58%. Hershey's return on equity of 43.24% beat Mondelez International's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mondelez International	10.58%	17.53%	6.70%
Hershey	16.17%	43.24%	14.40%

Does the media favor MDLZ or HSY?

In the previous week, Mondelez International had 3 more articles in the media than Hershey. MarketBeat recorded 50 mentions for Mondelez International and 47 mentions for Hershey. Mondelez International's average media sentiment score of 0.91 beat Hershey's score of 0.78 indicating that Mondelez International is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Mondelez International	32 Very Positive mention(s)	4 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Hershey	27 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	11 Neutral mention(s)	3 Negative mention(s)	2 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has preferable earnings & valuation, MDLZ or HSY?

Mondelez International has higher revenue and earnings than Hershey. Hershey is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Mondelez International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mondelez International	$36.02B	2.15	$4.96B	$2.82	20.56
Hershey	$11.16B	2.70	$1.86B	$8.68	17.19

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in MDLZ or HSY?

Mondelez International received 279 more outperform votes than Hershey when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 70.49% of users gave Mondelez International an outperform vote while only 51.27% of users gave Hershey an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Mondelez International	Outperform Votes 884 70.49%	Underperform Votes 370 29.51%
Hershey	Outperform Votes 605 51.27%	Underperform Votes 575 48.73%

Summary

Mondelez International beats Hershey on 12 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.