Hershey Company (The) $HSY Stock Position Decreased by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 8.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,864 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,314 shares during the quarter. Hershey makes up 0.9% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $18,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of 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 valued at $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 20.2% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth about $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its stake in Hershey by 4.5% in the 2nd 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 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,692,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $212.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,485,753.85. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:HSY opened at $171.50 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $182.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 1.03 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 1-year low of $161.43 and a 1-year high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company posted $2.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.19%.

Hershey 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.