Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Trims Stock Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lowered its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 22,653 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,720 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Hershey by 6.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 20.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in Hershey during the second quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its stake in Hershey by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,975,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Hershey by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,692,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $791,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,814,787.76. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,859,600. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $194.64 on Monday. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $152.21 and a 52-week high of $239.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $199.60 and a 200-day moving average of $197.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 108.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on HSY. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. BTIG Research began coverage on shares of Hershey in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research 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, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $217.78.

Hershey 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.