Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Bought by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 929.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 60,310 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,453 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Hershey were worth $12,538,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Syon Capital LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co lifted its holdings in Hershey by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,796 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC boosted its position in Hershey by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,043,150. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of HSY stock opened at $183.53 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $37.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.11. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $196.93. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $161.43 and a 1-year high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. 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 report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Seven equities 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $208.28.

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.