27,000 Shares in Hershey Company (The) $HSY Purchased by Employees Provident Fund Board

Employees Provident Fund Board bought a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 27,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,913,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HSY. Bard Associates Inc. bought a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 123.0% in the 4th quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 165 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were 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 owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Hershey in a report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.06.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $172.38 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $188.34 and a 200 day moving average of $198.22. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $34.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.09.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced 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. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 3.4%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 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.