GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Acquires 3,052 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,382 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $9,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Friedenthal Financial increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 38,266.7% during the fourth quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 5,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 166.8% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 39,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 24,509 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 9.4% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 60,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,406,000 after purchasing an additional 5,239 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 833.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 185,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,940,000 after acquiring an additional 165,458 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 408,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,372,000 after acquiring an additional 6,029 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $249.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.06.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $185.92 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $37.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.62, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.09. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.76. Hershey Company has a one year low of $157.77 and a one year high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 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 the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 108.19%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction of $291,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 57,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. The trade was a 2.53% 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. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.