First Trust Advisors LP Has $225.28 Million Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 315.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,083,675 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 822,772 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.53% of Hershey worth $225,285,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,633,000. Prudential PLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 237.3% in the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after buying an additional 5,620 shares in the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 38,266.7% in the fourth quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 5,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,047,000 after buying an additional 5,740 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,744,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Hershey by 126.4% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 84,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,508,000 after acquiring an additional 47,017 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 target price on Hershey in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $204.00 to $191.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.94.

Hershey Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE HSY opened at $172.31 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $180.95 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $197.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.95 billion, a PE ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $161.43 and a fifty-two week 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.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.19%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total value of $260,145.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 54,695 shares in the company, valued at $9,485,753.85. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Company 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.