4,319 Shares in Hershey Company (The) $HSY Acquired by Praxis Capital Management LLC

Praxis Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $786,000. Hershey comprises approximately 2.8% of Praxis Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $185.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $217.78.

Hershey Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $194.64 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $199.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $197.49. The firm has a market cap of $39.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.07. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $152.21 and a twelve month high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.Hershey’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 108.19%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $452,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,277,008.52. The trade was a 4.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $791,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,859,600. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.