Forsta AP Fonden Acquires 29,100 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 93.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 60,400 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 29,100 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Hershey were worth $10,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $272,506,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 240.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,262,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,183,000 after purchasing an additional 891,287 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 121.2% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,104,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $206,559,000 after purchasing an additional 605,048 shares in the last quarter. Candlestick Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,469,000. Finally, Clark Capital Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,464,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price target on Hershey in a research report on Friday, May 1st. TD Cowen upgraded Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.06.

Hershey Trading Up 0.1%

Hershey stock opened at $194.19 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $198.66. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $154.37 and a 12 month high of $239.48. The company has a market capitalization of $39.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.09.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

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

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.