SVB Wealth LLC Cuts Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

SVB Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 9.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,239 shares of the company’s stock after selling 239 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in HSY. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its stake in Hershey by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Hershey by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 5,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP increased its position in shares of Hershey by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 9,619 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on HSY shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $179.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $188.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $204.89.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total transaction of $306,810.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,614,615.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $867,450. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY stock traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $191.98. 428,071 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,842,340. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $178.82 and a 52 week high of $235.80. The stock has a market cap of $38.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.81 and a beta of 0.36. 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’s 50-day moving average is $190.27 and its 200-day moving average is $192.56.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.58 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.85%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 54.31%.

About Hershey

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.