Forsta AP Fonden Grows Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden boosted its Hershey stake by 93% in the fourth quarter, ending with 60,400 shares valued at about $11.0 million.
• Hershey beat earnings expectations in its latest quarter, reporting $2.35 EPS on $3.10 billion in revenue, both above analyst forecasts.
• Wall Street remains cautious overall on HSY: analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating with an average price target of $218.06, while the company also announced a $1.452 quarterly dividend.

Forsta AP Fonden raised its holdings in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 93.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,400 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,100 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Hershey were worth $10,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of HSY. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,618,000 after buying an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company's stock valued at $116,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 2nd quarter valued at about $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,975,000 after buying an additional 769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,692,000 after buying an additional 1,149 shares in the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. BTIG Research assumed coverage on Hershey in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. Evercore raised Hershey from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $255.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price target on Hershey in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $218.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $11,198,599.50. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $194.19 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $197.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $198.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.09. Hershey Company has a one year low of $154.37 and a one year high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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