Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. cut its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 91.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,630 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 20.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter worth about $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in Hershey by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,975,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hershey by 5.4% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Hershey Stock Up 1.8%

Hershey stock opened at $178.59 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $160.07 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $185.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.13.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on HSY shares. UBS Group reduced 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings cut Hershey from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Hershey in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.50.

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.