Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Sold by Gabelli Funds LLC

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 34.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,500 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,912,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,469,855,000 after purchasing an additional 191,671 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position 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 valued at $1,356,681,000 after purchasing an additional 128,982 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Hershey by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,614,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,947,000 after purchasing an additional 29,731 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Hershey by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,605,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,333,000 after purchasing an additional 101,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Hershey by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,473,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $275,605,000 after purchasing an additional 52,936 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $250.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research lowered Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Hershey in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.78.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY stock opened at $190.49 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $38.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.07. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $150.04 and a 12-month high of $239.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $197.51.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted 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 for 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 business’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.19%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $452,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 41,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,277,008.52. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,859,600. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.