OP Asset Management Ltd Buys New Stake in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 15,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,182,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators bought a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,633,000. Prudential PLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 237.3% in the 4th quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 7,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,454,000 after purchasing an additional 5,620 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 38,266.7% in the 4th quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 5,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,744,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in shares of Hershey by 833.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 185,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,940,000 after purchasing an additional 165,458 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,485,753.85. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price target on Hershey in a report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.50.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY stock opened at $179.32 on Friday. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $160.07 and a twelve month high of $239.48. The firm has a market cap of $36.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.09. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $186.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $198.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its 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 analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The business’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

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