Wall Street Stock Forecaster Hotline – Thursday, June 30, 2016

Article Excerpt

PLEASE NOTE: Our next Hotline will go out on Friday, July 8, 2016. MONDELEZ INTERNATIONAL INC., $45.51, Nasdaq symbol MDLZ, makes cookies and biscuits (Oreo, Chips Ahoy, Ritz), chocolate bars (Cadbury, Toblerone), gum and candy (Trident, Chiclets) and Halls cough drops. On Thursday, the company offered to acquire The Hershey Co. (New York symbol HSY). Hershey is the largest maker of candy and other sweets in the U.S. Its major brands are Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kisses, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Twizzlers, Mounds and Milk Duds. Mondelez’s bid of $107.00 per Hershey share (roughly 50% in cash and 50% in stock) is worth a total of $16.4 billion. That’s equal to 23% of Mondelez’s market cap of $72.5 billion. Hershey stock is trading 6.1% higher than Mondelez’s offer, and the company has rejected the bid. Investors likely expect a higher offer. However, any deal would need the approval of the Hershey Trust. This entity—established by company founder Milton Hershey—controls 81% of the votes. Over the years, the…