Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $938,000 Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 42.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,514 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,281 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $9,633,000. Prudential PLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 237.3% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 5,620 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 38,266.7% during the 4th quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 5,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 5,740 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth $2,744,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 833.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 185,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,940,000 after buying an additional 165,458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on HSY. Evercore raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.50.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $175.18 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $35.53 billion, a PE ratio of 32.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.09. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $160.07 and a 12 month high of $239.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $185.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.15.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total transaction of $260,145.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,485,753.85. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.