Steven E. Voskuil Sells 1,500 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Stock

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Hershey Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $187.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $38.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.71. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Hershey in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays lifted their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.33.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.