The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Sold by Quadrature Capital Ltd

Quadrature Capital Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 80.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,352 shares of the company’s stock after selling 103,468 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,727,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Hershey by 103.9% during the 4th quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 44,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,250,000 after acquiring an additional 22,549 shares in the last quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $274,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,182,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,830,683,000 after acquiring an additional 271,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Hershey by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 45,309 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,447,000 after buying an additional 11,736 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $882,405 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of HSY stock opened at $182.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $36.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $262.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $194.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.45.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. Hershey’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.31%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Edward Jones reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $210.22.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the manufacture and sale of confectionery products and pantry items in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: North America Confectionery, North America Salty Snacks, and International. It offers chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery products; gum and mint refreshment products, including mints, chewing gums, and bubble gums; protein bars; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.