Hsbc Holdings PLC Grows Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 303,323 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,758 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $55,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter worth about $272,506,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 546.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $192,439,000 after acquiring an additional 893,940 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 240.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,262,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,183,000 after acquiring an additional 891,287 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Hershey by 150.1% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,278,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,731,000 after acquiring an additional 767,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 4,478.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 586,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,666,000 after acquiring an additional 573,339 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total transaction of $260,145.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,485,753.85. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on HSY. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen raised shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Evercore raised shares of Hershey from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $218.06.

Hershey Trading Down 0.9%

HSY stock opened at $171.10 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $34.71 billion, a PE ratio of 31.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.09. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $160.07 and a 12 month high of $239.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $187.55 and its 200 day moving average is $198.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.