The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Stake Boosted by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 121,193 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,921 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Hershey worth $22,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its position in Hershey by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 29,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,988,000 after buying an additional 1,477 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,099,000. Gratus Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 2.1% in the third quarter. Gratus Capital LLC now owns 4,478 shares of the company’s stock valued at $896,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association bought a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter worth $12,525,000. Finally, Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 11,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,396,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE HSY opened at $199.96 on Thursday. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $275.89. The company has a market capitalization of $40.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.33. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $192.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.96 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.31%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $213.06.

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.