Mackenzie Financial Corp Has $21.13 Million Stock Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Mackenzie Financial Corp cut its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,337 shares of the company’s stock after selling 114 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $21,131,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.1% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,665,000 after acquiring an additional 916 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter worth about $238,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Hershey by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,057,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,045,383,000 after buying an additional 216,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its stake in Hershey by 10.8% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 32,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,972,000 after buying an additional 3,129 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,634,329.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,634,329.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $670,244. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.33.

Hershey Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE HSY opened at $184.86 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $276.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $191.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $37.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced 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. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

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.