Texas Yale Capital Corp. Has $1.72 Million Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 90.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,460 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,722,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,469,855,000 after acquiring an additional 191,671 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,253,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,681,000 after acquiring an additional 128,982 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,831,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,434,000 after acquiring an additional 104,024 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,614,258 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,947,000 after acquiring an additional 29,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,605,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $300,333,000 after acquiring an additional 101,305 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on HSY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $211.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.06.

Hershey Stock Up 0.1%

Hershey stock opened at $194.19 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $39.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.09. 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 Company has a fifty-two week low of $154.37 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $197.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.66.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced 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 analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

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.