Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Sells 3,427 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 15.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,176 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,427 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $211.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. 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 research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Hershey from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $214.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $9,485,753.85. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 1.5%

NYSE:HSY traded up $2.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $174.15. 2,420,439 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,286,708. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $35.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.43, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $197.54. Hershey Company has a one year low of $161.29 and a one year high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. 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 firm posted $2.09 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. 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.