The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Position Boosted by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 2.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,145 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,134 shares during the quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $8,274,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 320,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,951,000 after buying an additional 29,246 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 179.4% in the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,353,000 after buying an additional 4,468 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Hershey by 119.8% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 91,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,633,000 after purchasing an additional 50,014 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Hershey by 239.2% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 22,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,286,000 after purchasing an additional 15,538 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Hershey by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 54,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,168 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $177.48 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $176.78 and a 1 year high of $211.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $192.52. The firm has a market cap of $35.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.59, a P/E/G ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.37.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.44 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. Hershey’s revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on HSY. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Hershey in a research note on Monday, August 12th. They set a “sell” rating and a $185.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Hershey from $179.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $230.00 to $205.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Hershey from $204.00 to $202.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,912.46. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About Hershey

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.