Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Sold by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management cut its Hershey stake by 63% in the fourth quarter, selling 24,191 shares and leaving it with 14,209 shares worth about $2.59 million.
• Hershey’s latest earnings beat expectations, with Q1 EPS of $2.35 versus the $2.04 estimate and revenue of $3.10 billion, up 10.7% year over year.
• Analysts remain mixed on HSY: the stock’s consensus rating is Hold with an average price target of $218.06, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $1.452 per share payable June 15.

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 63.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,209 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,191 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Hershey were worth $2,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of HSY. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 240.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,262,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $236,183,000 after acquiring an additional 891,287 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 121.2% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,104,299 shares of the company's stock valued at $206,559,000 after acquiring an additional 605,048 shares during the period. Candlestick Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,469,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,464,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,469,855,000 after acquiring an additional 191,671 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HSY shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen raised shares of Hershey from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Zacks Research cut shares of Hershey from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $249.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $218.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders own 0.08% of the company's stock.

Hershey Stock Down 1.2%

HSY stock opened at $184.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $37.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.29, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.24. Hershey Company has a one year low of $158.67 and a one year high of $239.48. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $196.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.76.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be paid a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Hershey's payout ratio is presently 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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