The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Acquired by First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,125 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,911,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,983,427,000 after acquiring an additional 222,960 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Hershey by 143.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,819 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,779,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,052,000 after purchasing an additional 35,393 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,170,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,260,000 after purchasing an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 997,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,085,000 after buying an additional 21,229 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hershey Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $197.92 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $275.89. The company has a market cap of $40.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.33. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $191.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.72.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $212.78.

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.