Hershey (NYSE:HSY) CFO Steven Voskuil Sells 1,500 Shares

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,043,150. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Hershey Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of HSY traded up $1.56 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $181.75. 557,905 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,019,165. The stock has a market cap of $36.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.11. 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. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $180.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.91.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 108.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Bank of America decreased their price target on Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Hershey from $220.00 to $208.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $208.28.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,469,855,000 after acquiring an additional 191,671 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Hershey by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,106,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,657,189,000 after purchasing an additional 169,660 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in Hershey by 1.8% during 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Hershey by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,315,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,343,000 after purchasing an additional 124,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,831,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $876,434,000 after purchasing an additional 104,024 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.