Hsbc Holdings PLC Increases Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 12.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 330,842 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,719 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.16% of Hershey worth $68,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in Hershey by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 20.2% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the second quarter worth $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its position in Hershey by 4.5% during the second quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,975,000 after purchasing an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 5.4% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,149 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $173.43, for a total value of $260,145.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 54,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,485,753.85. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on HSY. Zacks Research downgraded Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. BTIG Research started coverage on Hershey in a report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Barclays lowered their target price on Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $212.56.

Hershey Stock Up 0.0%

HSY opened at $171.50 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $182.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $197.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.94, a PEG ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.11. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $161.43 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) 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. Hershey had a net margin of 9.12% and a return on equity of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Hershey Company will post 8.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a dividend of $1.452 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 108.19%.

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.