Harvest Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Harvest Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 11,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,021,000. Hershey makes up 1.1% of Harvest Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth approximately $272,506,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Hershey by 546.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $192,439,000 after buying an additional 893,940 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in Hershey by 240.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,262,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,183,000 after buying an additional 891,287 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 41.4% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,331,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,348,000 after buying an additional 390,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candlestick Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,469,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares in the company, valued at $11,198,599.50. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.06.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY stock opened at $182.60 on Wednesday. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.04 billion, a PE ratio of 34.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.09. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $160.07 and a 1 year high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly 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. 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 business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.45 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.2%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 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.