Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) Stake Boosted by First American Trust FSB

First American Trust FSB grew its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,903 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 133 shares during the quarter. First American Trust FSB’s holdings in Hershey were worth $496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Hershey by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,282,681 shares of the company’s stock valued at $217,222,000 after acquiring an additional 87,498 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in Hershey by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 19,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,350,000 after acquiring an additional 885 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc. increased its position in Hershey by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 30,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,176,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Hershey by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Hershey by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 18,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,100,000 after acquiring an additional 2,591 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY opened at $184.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $37.34 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $173.53 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.42. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by $0.23. The company had revenue of $2.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 37.36% and a net margin of 13.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 72.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP James Turoff sold 1,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 25,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,431,175. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,334 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $240,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 38,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,852,240. This trade represents a 3.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 118,311 shares of company stock valued at $20,931,348 over the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on HSY. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $169.68.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.