Nomura Holdings Inc. Makes New $564,000 Investment in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,026 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $564,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $349,448,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 18,495.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 295,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,125,000 after purchasing an additional 294,083 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 271,636 shares in the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,672,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 270.8% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 197,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,478,000 after buying an additional 144,103 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $182.14 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $194.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $192.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.09 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $261.58.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Argus decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. BNP Paribas downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $179.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their target price on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $209.67.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $882,405. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.