67,765 Shares in Hershey Company (The) $HSY Bought by Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A.

Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 67,765 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,332,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Hershey by 6.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 20.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL bought a new position in Hershey during the second quarter worth $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Hershey by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,975,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Hershey by 5.4% in the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $194.19 on Monday. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $154.37 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $197.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $39.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.09.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 108.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction of $291,150.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on HSY shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $211.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $249.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.06.

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.