Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Acquired by OLD National Bancorp IN

OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 10.3% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 49,024 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,560 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Hershey were worth $10,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HSY. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $272,506,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 546.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,439,000 after acquiring an additional 893,940 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Hershey by 240.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,262,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,183,000 after purchasing an additional 891,287 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Hershey by 150.1% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,278,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,731,000 after purchasing an additional 767,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 4,478.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 586,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,666,000 after purchasing an additional 573,339 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays lowered their target price on Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Seven 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total value of $260,145.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,485,753.85. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 3.4%

HSY opened at $176.81 on Friday. Hershey Company has a one year low of $160.07 and a one year high of $239.48. The company has a market cap of $35.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.93, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.18.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.19%.

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.