RBC upgraded HSY to "outperform" from "sector perform"
The shares of Hershey Corporation (NYSE:HSY) are up 1.7% at $149.10 at last check, after RBC upgraded the stock to "outperform" from "sector perform," with an added price-target hike to $170 from $157. The firm noted that HSY is more likely to gain as its sector peers struggle, and more growth could come from the company's "superior consumer insights." Today's upgrade looked to be well overdue, as coming into today, seven of the 12 analysts in coverage carried a "hold" rating on HSY.
For the past few weeks, Hershey stock has been consolidating below the $150 level. At this morning's highs, however, HSY staged a breakout to trade at $151.37. Year-over-year, the equity is down 5.2%.
Over in the options pits, traders have showed a stronger-than-usual penchant for calls as of late. This is per Hershey stock's 10-day call/put volume ratio of 1.56 at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), which stands higher than 80% of readings from the past year.
That said, now could be a good time to weigh in on HSY's The stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 22% stands higher than just 9% of all other readings in its annual range, implying that options players are pricing in low volatility expectations at the moment.