Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $70.22 Million Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 337,770 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,380 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $70,219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Syon Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Haverford Trust Co lifted its position in Hershey by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,237,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the company’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Venture Visionary Partners LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,462,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on HSY. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $211.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded Hershey to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $214.78.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total value of $260,145.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,485,753.85. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE HSY traded up $2.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $174.15. 2,420,439 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,286,708. The company has a market cap of $35.32 billion, a PE ratio of 32.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $161.29 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $183.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $197.54.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.43 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.19%.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.