Hershey Company (The) $HSY Shares Bought by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 314,060 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,965 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $57,288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Liberty One Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 32.4% in the 3rd quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 38,076 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,122,000 after acquiring an additional 9,309 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 38,266.7% in the 4th quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 5,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 5,740 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 166.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 39,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 24,509 shares during the last quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 113,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,276,000 after acquiring an additional 7,064 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Winnow Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,070,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on HSY. Zacks Research lowered shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $211.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.33.

Hershey Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE HSY opened at $185.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $207.82 and its 200 day moving average price is $196.73. The company has a market capitalization of $37.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.07. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $150.04 and a 12 month high of $239.48.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.04 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The company’s revenue was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.19%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,198,599.50. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $452,140.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,036 shares in the company, valued at $9,277,008.52. This trade represents a 4.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,189,090 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Company Profile

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.