Short Interest in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Rises By 10.5%

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 29th, there was short interest totalling 2,850,000 shares, an increase of 10.5% from the February 14th total of 2,580,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Hershey Trading Up 1.8 %

HSY stock traded up $3.46 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $197.00. 2,687,956 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,093,861. The company has a market capitalization of $40.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Hershey has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $276.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $192.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $193.41.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. Hershey’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Hershey will post 9.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total transaction of $396,170.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,833,624.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,042,669 over the last 90 days. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $349,448,000. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Hershey by 143.7% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,039,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453,819 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Hershey by 2,693.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,094,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $237,156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055,559 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Hershey by 57.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,352,000 after acquiring an additional 964,019 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in Hershey by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,160,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,785,458,000 after buying an additional 465,423 shares during the period. 56.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Hershey from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $200.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 29th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Hershey in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $213.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.33.

Hershey Company 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.