Markel Group Inc. Purchases 13,000 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Key Points

• Markel Group increased its Hershey stake by 23.9% in Q4, adding 13,000 shares and bringing its total holdings to 67,500 shares worth about $12.3 million.
• Hershey’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $2.35 versus the $2.04 consensus and revenue of $3.10 billion, up 10.7% year over year.
• Wall Street remains cautious on the stock: analysts have a consensus rating of Hold with an average price target of $217.78, while Hershey also recently declared a quarterly dividend of $1.452 per share.

Markel Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 23.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 67,500 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,000 shares during the period. Markel Group Inc.'s holdings in Hershey were worth $12,284,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 240.0% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,262,671 shares of the company's stock valued at $236,183,000 after purchasing an additional 891,287 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 121.2% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,104,299 shares of the company's stock valued at $206,559,000 after purchasing an additional 605,048 shares during the period. Candlestick Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter valued at $64,469,000. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter valued at $44,464,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,469,855,000 after purchasing an additional 191,671 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on HSY. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $217.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $791,245.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,859,600. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE:HSY opened at $194.64 on Friday. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $152.21 and a 1-year high of $239.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $199.60 and a 200 day moving average of $197.49. The firm has a market cap of $39.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio is presently 108.19%.

Hershey Company Profile

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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