The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Sold by Forte Capital LLC ADV

Forte Capital LLC ADV lessened its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,976 shares of the company’s stock after selling 180 shares during the quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Hershey were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Alliance boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1,263.3% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 13,997 shares during the last quarter. Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,173,000. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 78,757.1% during the 4th quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 5,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,029,000 after acquiring an additional 5,513 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 94.7% during the 4th quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 17,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after acquiring an additional 8,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.78.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of HSY stock traded up $2.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $197.92. 3,396,043 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,711,441. The business’s fifty day moving average is $191.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $275.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.33.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

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.