Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $2.74 Million in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 15,078 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,744,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HSY. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 240.0% in the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,262,671 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,183,000 after buying an additional 891,287 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 121.2% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,104,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,559,000 after buying an additional 605,048 shares during the last quarter. Candlestick Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter worth about $64,469,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter worth about $44,464,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,469,855,000 after buying an additional 191,671 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. Mizuho lowered their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research downgraded Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price target on Hershey in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, BTIG Research assumed coverage on Hershey in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $191.04 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.09. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $154.37 and a 12 month high of $239.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.58, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.07. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.19%.

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.