Woodline Partners LP Purchases New Stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 52,070 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,818,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,460,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,110,126,000 after buying an additional 2,980,997 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $80,978,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $785,003,000 after buying an additional 247,675 shares during the last quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,902,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,578,957 shares of the company's stock valued at $267,396,000 after buying an additional 154,238 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on HSY. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Hershey from a "neutral" rating to an "underweight" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $162.15.

Hershey Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of HSY traded down $1.57 on Wednesday, hitting $156.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 318,723 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,784,951. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $208.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $164.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.15. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.07 EPS. The business's revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Hershey's payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

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.