The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Sold by Abundance Wealth Counselors

Abundance Wealth Counselors lowered its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 10.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,508 shares of the company’s stock after selling 183 shares during the period. Abundance Wealth Counselors’ holdings in Hershey were worth $293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wealth Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. AJOVista LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $153,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1,263.3% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,816,000 after buying an additional 13,997 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $2,332,000. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $4,173,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total transaction of $274,395.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 35,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,535,723.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $859,950. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY stock opened at $183.75 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $37.16 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $194.11 and a 200-day moving average of $192.22. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $251.71.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. Hershey’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.96 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on HSY. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $179.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.67.

Hershey 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.