Legal & General Group Plc Has $182.33 Million Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Legal & General Group Plc lowered its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,001,916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,719 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.49% of Hershey worth $182,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Friedenthal Financial boosted its stake in Hershey by 38,266.7% in the fourth quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 5,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 166.8% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 39,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 24,509 shares in the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth $1,070,000. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in shares of Hershey by 6.4% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 42,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,957,000 after acquiring an additional 2,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 9.4% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 60,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,406,000 after acquiring an additional 5,239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 57,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Hershey from $211.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research downgraded Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 target price on Hershey in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $249.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.06.

Hershey Trading Up 3.6%

NYSE HSY opened at $198.08 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $198.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.30. The company has a market capitalization of $40.18 billion, a PE ratio of 36.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $154.37 and a 12 month high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.