Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 12,887 Shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Free Report) by 147.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,598 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,887 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Hershey were worth $3,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 18.0% in the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 505 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Novem Group lifted its holdings in Hershey by 24.0% in the first quarter. Novem Group now owns 7,303 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,249,000 after buying an additional 1,414 shares during the period. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 2.3% in the first quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. now owns 28,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,931,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 11.7% in the first quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 29,569 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,057,000 after buying an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in Hershey by 3.1% in the first quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 5,609 shares of the company's stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on HSY. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $162.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Hershey from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday. 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 report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $158.84.

Hershey Stock Performance

Hershey stock traded down $7.59 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $162.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,520,262 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,870,408. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $140.13 and a 1-year high of $208.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $165.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $164.85. The company has a market cap of $32.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02, a PEG ratio of 6.48 and a beta of 0.30.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Hershey's payout ratio is presently 67.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total value of $153,025.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 2,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $470,387.34. The trade was a 24.55% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 25,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,431,175. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 54,107 shares of company stock valued at $9,008,118 over the last quarter. 0.28% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey 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.