OLD National Bancorp IN Sells 530 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

OLD National Bancorp IN cut its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,638 shares of the company’s stock after selling 530 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Hershey were worth $492,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 143.7% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,039,000 after buying an additional 1,453,819 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 18,495.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 295,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,125,000 after buying an additional 294,083 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,911,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,983,427,000 after buying an additional 222,960 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at $33,672,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 270.8% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 197,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,478,000 after buying an additional 144,103 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534 in the last ninety days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $188.14 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $191.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.73. 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 quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. The company’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.55%.

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.