USS Investment Management Ltd Has $6.96 Million Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

USS Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 9.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,490 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,882 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Hershey were worth $6,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.1% during the first quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 29,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,226,000 after buying an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 83.5% in the 1st quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 65,398 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,596,000 after acquiring an additional 29,753 shares during the last quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 6,309 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,312,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 9.8% during the 1st quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 5,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,162,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patton Fund Management Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 16.5% during the 1st quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc. now owns 1,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $298,000 after acquiring an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $182.20 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $185.15 and its 200 day moving average is $198.13. Hershey Company has a one year low of $160.07 and a one year high of $239.48. The firm has a market cap of $36.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.93, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.11. 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 earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.43 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 108.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HSY. UBS Group lowered their target price on Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Evercore upgraded Hershey from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Hershey from $211.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.50.

About Hershey

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.