IFP Advisors Inc Has $1.02 Million Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 346.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,584 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,333 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in Hershey by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 5,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,010,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $230,000. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its position in Hershey by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Hershey by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 76,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,911,000 after acquiring an additional 15,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Hershey by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 27,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $11,198,599.50. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $791,245.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares in the company, valued at $7,814,787.76. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,859,600 in the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on HSY. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Zacks Research cut shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Hershey in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Seven investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.78.

Hershey Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $194.64 on Monday. Hershey Company has a one year low of $152.21 and a one year high of $239.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $199.60 and a 200-day moving average of $197.74. 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 stock has a market cap of $39.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.07.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued 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 company earned $2.09 EPS. Hershey’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.