Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Sold by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,036,456 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,810 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Hershey were worth $631,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Bard Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Manchester Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hershey by 123.0% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 165 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total transaction of $255,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 53,195 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,043,150. This represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group set a $190.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Zacks Research downgraded Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $208.28.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $183.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $161.43 and a 12-month high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $179.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $196.93.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced 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. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

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.