Hershey elevated to ‘Best-of-Breed Bison’ at DA Davidson

DA Davidson elevated Hershey to the firm’s ‘Best-of-Breed Bison’ list while maintaining a Neutral rating and $205 price target. The company is the clear share leader in U.S. chocolate candy, and its market share has held steady over the past five years – gaining during peak pandemic as competitor supply chains broke down, but donating more recently as competitor supply chains stabilized, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Hershey also carries a superior margin profile attributable to favorable category exposure, iconic anchor brands which hold pricing power, and vast manufacturing scale, the firm added.