Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Purchased by Bank of New York Mellon Corp

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,137,082 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 195,500 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $206,926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Atlantic Edge Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in Hershey by 339.3% during the 3rd quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 246 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.06.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares in the company, valued at $11,198,599.50. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $184.42 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $37.41 billion, a PE ratio of 34.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.09. 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $194.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.75.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 108.19%.

Hershey 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.