Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC Has $742,000 Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY)

Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 5.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,340 shares of the company’s stock after selling 233 shares during the quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Hershey by 83.0% in the first quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 24,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,235,000 after acquiring an additional 11,228 shares during the last quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc raised its position in shares of Hershey by 32.6% in the first quarter. Gen Wealth Partners Inc now owns 4,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $842,000 after purchasing an additional 1,212 shares during the period. Ethic Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 7,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,274,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in shares of Hershey by 97.4% in the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 102,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,550,000 after purchasing an additional 50,781 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Hershey by 1.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,020,569 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,536,000 after purchasing an additional 17,311 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hershey Stock Down 1.3%

HSY opened at $177.97 on Friday. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $175.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.38. The company has a market capitalization of $36.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.63, a P/E/G ratio of 4.29 and a beta of 0.27.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. Hershey had a net margin of 13.54% and a return on equity of 37.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 26.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 72.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Hershey news, SVP James Turoff sold 1,300 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 25,321 shares in the company, valued at $4,431,175. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.00, for a total transaction of $3,742,260.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 193,624 shares in the company, valued at $37,563,056. This represents a 9.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 118,311 shares of company stock valued at $20,931,348. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $171.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $173.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $168.83.

Hershey Company 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.