Marshall Financial Group LLC Purchases 346 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 8.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,477 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 346 shares during the period. Marshall Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $871,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Hershey by 260.7% in the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 23,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,642,000 after acquiring an additional 16,768 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 54.6% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,737 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,437 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 997,329 shares of the company’s stock worth $198,085,000 after acquiring an additional 21,229 shares in the last quarter. JT Stratford LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $710,000. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,047,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on HSY. 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 note on Tuesday, March 26th. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $179.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total value of $306,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,614,615.12. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $859,950. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $183.75 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $251.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $192.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.16 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.64.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.31%.

Hershey Company 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.