The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Bought by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,288 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $5,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $411,828,000. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Hershey by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,819 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Hershey by 2,693.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,094,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055,559 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Hershey by 57.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,352,000 after acquiring an additional 964,019 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Hershey by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,378,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,202,000 after acquiring an additional 369,940 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 value of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $670,244 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.33.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE:HSY opened at $185.02 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $192.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.97. The firm has a market cap of $37.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $276.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. Hershey’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors 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 2.96%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

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.