Vise Technologies Inc. Increases Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Vise Technologies Inc. raised its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 143.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,125 shares during the quarter. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 23,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,350,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Lido Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 9,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. now owns 30,045 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,468,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. REAP Financial Group LLC now owns 460 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 63,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,591,000 after acquiring an additional 16,047 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $175.90 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.68 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.09. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $193.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $160.07 and a 12 month high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.19%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 57,695 shares in the company, valued at $11,198,599.50. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Hershey in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore upgraded Hershey from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $249.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.06.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.