Leonteq Securities AG Acquires Shares of 2,793 Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $508,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Friedenthal Financial increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 38,266.7% during the 4th quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 5,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 166.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 39,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 24,509 shares during the last quarter. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,070,000. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 42,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,957,000 after purchasing an additional 2,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 60,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,406,000 after purchasing an additional 5,239 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 2.2%

HSY opened at $194.64 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $199.60 and a 200 day moving average of $197.49. The company has a market cap of $39.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.07. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $152.21 and a 12 month high of $239.48. 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 (NYSE:HSY) last announced 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. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 108.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $452,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,277,008.52. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,859,600 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $250.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $211.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $217.78.

About Hershey

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.