Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) CFO Sells $900,000.00 in Stock

Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.00, for a total value of $900,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 61,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,037,420. This represents a 7.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY traded up $2.76 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $186.66. 767,458 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,859,312. 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 stock's 50 day moving average price is $166.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.01. The firm has a market cap of $37.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 6.90 and a beta of 0.30. Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $140.13 and a twelve month high of $208.03.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. Hershey's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.57%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hershey

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,460,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,110,126,000 after buying an additional 2,980,997 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 18,311.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,010,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,728,460,000 after buying an additional 1,005,127 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6,721.3% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 819,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $140,150,000 after buying an additional 807,433 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 25.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 2,753,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $470,858,000 after buying an additional 557,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the second quarter valued at $90,588,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Hershey from $173.00 to $165.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Barclays raised their price target on Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Hershey from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $160.16.

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.