New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 3,367 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 274,460 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,367 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.13% of Hershey worth $51,170,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of HSY. RWA Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 419.0% in the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 7,655 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 6,180 shares in the last quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 66.7% in the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,332,000 after acquiring an additional 9,300 shares in the last quarter. Significant Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,659,000. Diversified LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 483.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 139,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,079,000 after buying an additional 115,912 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Edward Jones reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.33.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $187.10 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $38.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.67, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $192.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.75. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. Hershey’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s payout ratio is 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.