Friedenthal Financial Cuts Stake in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Friedenthal Financial lessened its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 92.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 431 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,324 shares during the quarter. Friedenthal Financial’s holdings in Hershey were worth $90,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $9,633,000. Prudential PLC increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 237.3% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,988 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 5,620 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $2,744,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 833.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its stake in Hershey by 1.5% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 408,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,372,000 after buying an additional 6,029 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey 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 directly owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,485,753.85. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Trading Down 3.4%

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $176.81 on Friday. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $160.07 and a 1-year high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average is $186.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.09.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current 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 given a $1.452 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $217.50.

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.