The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) CFO Sells $296,850.00 in Stock

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Hershey Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $193.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.40, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.34. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $193.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.79. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hershey

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Rheos Capital Works Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 21.4% in the third quarter. Rheos Capital Works Inc. now owns 152,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,592,000 after acquiring an additional 27,000 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,603,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 396.6% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 173,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,599,000 after acquiring an additional 138,857 shares during the period. Fulcrum Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. Fulcrum Capital LLC now owns 37,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,955,000 after acquiring an additional 9,858 shares during the period. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 235.3% in the third quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 8,067 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 5,661 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Hershey from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Bank of America downgraded Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $250.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. Piper Sandler downgraded Hershey from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $240.00 to $200.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $225.48.

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.