SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 17,169 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 50.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 50,984 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,169 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $10,599,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 123.0% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on HSY. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price objective on Hershey in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore upgraded 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. BTIG Research assumed coverage on shares of Hershey in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $211.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $217.50.

Hershey Stock Up 1.5%

HSY stock opened at $179.32 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $36.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.09. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $160.07 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $186.10 and a 200-day moving average of $198.05.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued 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. 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 analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 108.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,485,753.85. This trade represents 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 at the SEC website. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.