Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Grows Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp increased its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,174 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the quarter. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 125.3% during the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Citigroup cut their price target on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. One equities research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.33.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 through this link. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY traded up $1.06 on Wednesday, reaching $188.14. The company had a trading volume of 1,621,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,396. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $276.88. 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 company has a market capitalization of $38.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $192.01 and a 200-day moving average of $190.75.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Hershey 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.