Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Has $85.56 Million Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 458,897 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,223 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $85,557,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,665,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in Hershey during the first quarter valued at about $238,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Hershey by 28.8% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hershey by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,057,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,045,383,000 after buying an additional 216,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. raised its holdings in Hershey by 10.8% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 32,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,972,000 after buying an additional 3,129 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $182.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company has a market capitalization of $37.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $276.88. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.11.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 60.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.