Hershey Company (The) $HSY Holdings Trimmed by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 14.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 91,040 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,609 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in Hershey were worth $18,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Hershey by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings 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 period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 0.1%

HSY opened at $172.38 on Friday. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $160.07 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $188.34 and a 200-day moving average of $198.22. 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 company has a market capitalization of $34.97 billion, a PE ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.09.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 108.19%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,198,599.50. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. BTIG Research initiated coverage on shares of Hershey in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.06.

About Hershey

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.