Key Points
- Hershey CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares at $170 each, worth $255,000, under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. He retained 53,195 shares after the transaction.
- Hershey reported quarterly EPS of $2.35, beating estimates of $2.04, while revenue reached $3.10 billion and rose 10.7% year over year.
- Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating, with an average price target of $208.28, as several firms recently lowered their targets. Institutional investors own approximately 57.96% of the company.
Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY - Get Free Report) CFO Steven Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $170.00, for a total value of $255,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,195 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,043,150. This trade represents a 2.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Hershey Price Performance
Shares of HSY opened at $183.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $196.93. The stock has a market cap of $37.23 billion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $161.43 and a 1-year high of $239.48. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.Hershey's revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
HSY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Hershey from $215.00 to $180.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded Hershey from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Hershey from $249.00 to $200.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $208.28.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on HSY
Institutional Trading of Hershey
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $272,506,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Hershey by 546.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,057,476 shares of the company's stock worth $192,439,000 after buying an additional 893,940 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Hershey by 315.4% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,083,675 shares of the company's stock valued at $225,285,000 after buying an additional 822,772 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Hershey by 150.1% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,278,881 shares of the company's stock valued at $232,731,000 after buying an additional 767,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 4,478.5% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 586,141 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,666,000 after acquiring an additional 573,339 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company's stock.
About Hershey
(
Get Free Report)
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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