ABN Amro Investment Solutions Purchases New Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

ABN Amro Investment Solutions bought a new stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,143 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,109,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,469,855,000 after purchasing an additional 191,671 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,106,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,657,189,000 after buying an additional 169,660 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,253,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,356,681,000 after buying an additional 128,982 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,315,653 shares of the company’s stock worth $967,343,000 after acquiring an additional 124,464 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,831,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $876,434,000 after acquiring an additional 104,024 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY opened at $174.43 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $180.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $196.79. 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 company has a market cap of $35.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.48, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $161.43 and a 52-week high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released 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. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 108.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on HSY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Hershey from $204.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Zacks Research cut Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price objective on Hershey in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $208.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

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

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.