Strs Ohio Boosts Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Strs Ohio boosted its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 24.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 116,784 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,594 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Hershey were worth $24,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,469,855,000 after purchasing an additional 191,671 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,106,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,657,189,000 after purchasing an additional 169,660 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,253,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,681,000 after purchasing an additional 128,982 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,315,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $967,343,000 after buying an additional 124,464 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,831,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $876,434,000 after buying an additional 104,024 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on HSY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research lowered Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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, DA Davidson lowered their target price on Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total value of $260,145.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $182.20 on Friday. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $160.07 and a 52-week high of $239.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $185.02 and a 200 day moving average of $198.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $36.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.11.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid 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 dividend yield of 3.2%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 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.