Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) Shares Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 147.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,598 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,887 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Hershey were worth $3,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 18.0% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 505 shares of the company's stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Novem Group raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 24.0% in the first quarter. Novem Group now owns 7,303 shares of the company's stock worth $1,249,000 after buying an additional 1,414 shares during the last quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.3% in the first quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. now owns 28,834 shares of the company's stock worth $4,931,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 11.7% in the first quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 29,569 shares of the company's stock worth $5,057,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.1% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,609 shares of the company's stock worth $959,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company's stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $164.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,080,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,806,741. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $165.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $33.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.98 and a beta of 0.30. Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $208.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.15. Hershey had a net margin of 15.32% and a return on equity of 38.70%. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.07 earnings per share. Hershey's quarterly revenue was down 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Hershey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.57%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CEO Michele Buck sold 19,290 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total value of $3,375,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 193,624 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $33,884,200. The trade was a 9.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP James Turoff sold 1,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $227,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 25,321 shares in the company, valued at $4,431,175. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 54,107 shares of company stock valued at $9,008,118 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HSY. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $162.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Hershey from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $158.84.

Hershey Company 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.