19,818 Shares in Hershey Company (The) $HSY Acquired by Greenwood Capital Associates LLC

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC bought a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 19,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,120,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators purchased a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,633,000. Prudential PLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 237.3% during the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after acquiring an additional 5,620 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 38,266.7% during the 4th quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 5,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 5,740 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth about $2,744,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 833.3% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 185,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,940,000 after acquiring an additional 165,458 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Hershey from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $211.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen raised Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.50.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,485,753.85. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hershey Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of HSY opened at $174.44 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $184.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $197.83. The stock has a market cap of $35.38 billion, a PE ratio of 32.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $160.07 and a 12 month high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.19%.

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.