Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 10,558 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 16.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 76,306 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,558 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Hershey were worth $15,876,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 123.0% during the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 165 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Evercore raised shares of Hershey from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. TD Cowen raised Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total value of $260,145.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 54,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,485,753.85. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 2.0%

Hershey stock opened at $182.20 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $160.07 and a twelve month high of $239.48. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $185.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.13.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Hershey’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.19%.

Hershey Company Profile

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.