Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Purchased by Engineers Gate Manager LP

Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 64.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 208,301 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,675 shares during the quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP’s holdings in Hershey were worth $37,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 2,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the period. Cinctive Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares during the period. Concentric Capital Strategies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $2,315,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 150.1% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,278,881 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,731,000 after buying an additional 767,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 10,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,000 after buying an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction of $291,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 57,695 shares in the company, valued at $11,198,599.50. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Evercore upgraded Hershey from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $218.06.

Hershey Stock Down 3.7%

HSY stock opened at $175.73 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $35.64 billion, a PE ratio of 32.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $189.75 and its 200 day moving average is $198.51. Hershey Company has a one year low of $160.07 and a one year high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The firm’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.19%.

Hershey Company 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.