California Public Employees Retirement System Has $68.87 Million Stake in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 331,296 shares of the company’s stock after selling 48,379 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Hershey were worth $68,873,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Hershey by 6.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 20.2% during the 2nd 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 shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.5% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,975,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total value of $260,145.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,695 shares in the company, valued at $9,485,753.85. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on HSY. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Evercore raised Hershey from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.56.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $171.50 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $34.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $182.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $197.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $161.43 and a twelve month high of $239.48.

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 return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Hershey’s dividend 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.