Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) Shares Acquired by Portland Global Advisors LLC

Portland Global Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 29,654 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 379 shares during the quarter. Portland Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $5,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. LPL Financial LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 6.4% during the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 425,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,828,000 after buying an additional 25,704 shares during the period. Texas Yale Capital Corp. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 70.6% in the first quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 4,605 shares of the company’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Hershey by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 58,962 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,084,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 3.5% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 5,231 shares of the company’s stock worth $895,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,191 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.00, for a total value of $3,568,650.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,820,440. This trade represents a 9.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $240,120.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 38,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,852,240. The trade was a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 99,021 shares of company stock valued at $17,189,088. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $187.54 on Monday. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $208.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $167.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market cap of $38.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.05 and a beta of 0.30.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. Hershey had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The business had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.81 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 67.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.16.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.