The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Acquired by Mutual of America Capital Management LLC

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 24,105 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $4,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new position in Hershey in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Hershey in the third quarter worth about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Financial Corp IN acquired a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in Hershey by 121.3% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hershey news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total transaction of $396,170.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,833,624.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $182.53 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $193.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $191.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on HSY. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Hershey from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.81.

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.