The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Position Lifted by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 909,237 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,076 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Hershey were worth $169,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 7.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,590 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 121.4% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,055,000 after purchasing an additional 5,632 shares during the last quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its position in Hershey by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 646 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in Hershey by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $225,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Hershey by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 1,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HSY. Piper Sandler cut their price objective 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. BNP Paribas cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE HSY traded up $0.94 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $187.27. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 338,438 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,955,226. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $192.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $190.81.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.37 dividend. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.55%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% 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.