The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Acquired by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 12.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,329 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,986 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $6,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HSY. Empower Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the first quarter worth about $229,000. Toroso Investments LLC grew its position in Hershey by 5.2% during the first quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 14,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,749,000 after buying an additional 723 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 66.3% during the first quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 158 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hershey during the first quarter worth about $256,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 6.4% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,393,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $355,485,000 after buying an additional 83,333 shares during the period. 56.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.36, for a total transaction of $321,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,999,057.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.36, for a total transaction of $321,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,999,057.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 14,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $238.73, for a total value of $3,402,141.23. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 111,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,678,316.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 81,296 shares of company stock valued at $20,782,032. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $315.00 to $270.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $264.00 to $262.00 in a research report on Monday, July 17th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hershey in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Hershey in a report on Wednesday, September 13th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $264.11.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $212.36 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.29. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $206.69 and a 1-year high of $276.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $225.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $245.89.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.89 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 55.74% and a net margin of 16.49%. Hershey’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. Equities analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th were paid a $1.192 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 17th. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.04. This represents a $4.77 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 54.78%.

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; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.