Focus Partners Wealth Increases Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Focus Partners Wealth increased its Hershey stake by 24.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 52,213 shares to bring its total holdings to 262,119 shares valued at about $47.7 million.
• Analyst sentiment on HSY remains mixed: the stock has a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $218.06, though recent moves included upgrades from TD Cowen and Evercore.
• Hershey reported solid quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, but the stock was trading down slightly and the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.452 per share, yielding 3.2% annually.

Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 24.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 262,119 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 52,213 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth owned 0.13% of Hershey worth $47,720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Syon Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Haverford Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 6,796 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,237,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,561 shares of the company's stock valued at $466,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company's stock valued at $559,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,407 shares of the company's stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HSY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Hershey in a research note on Monday, April 13th. They issued a "neutral" rating on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded Hershey from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. TD Cowen upgraded Hershey from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Evercore upgraded Hershey from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $255.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $218.06.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares in the company, valued at $11,198,599.50. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $180.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $160.07 and a 52-week high of $239.48. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $190.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $198.64. The company has a market capitalization of $36.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.09.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is currently 108.19%.

About Hershey

The Hershey Company NYSE: HSY is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey's business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey's product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey's, Reese's, Hershey's Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.