Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 11,608 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,539 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 11,608 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $11,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Hershey by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,067,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,469,855,000 after buying an additional 191,671 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Hershey by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,253,041 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,356,681,000 after buying an additional 128,982 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Hershey by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,831,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $876,434,000 after buying an additional 104,024 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,614,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,947,000 after purchasing an additional 29,731 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 1,605,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,333,000 after purchasing an additional 101,305 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $184.42 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. Hershey Company has a one year low of $160.07 and a one year high of $239.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $194.51 and a 200 day moving average of $198.75.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Hershey’s revenue was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 108.19%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,198,599.50. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore raised Hershey from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $255.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. TD Cowen raised Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Hershey from $211.00 to $204.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. BTIG Research initiated coverage on Hershey in a report on Monday, April 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price 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 assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.06.

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.