The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Short Interest Up 14.4% in March

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,300,000 shares, a growth of 14.4% from the March 15th total of 3,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total value of $396,170.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Hershey news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total transaction of $396,170.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,833,624.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,634,329.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Hershey

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,182,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,830,683,000 after purchasing an additional 271,636 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Hershey by 9.1% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,489,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $886,746,000 after acquiring an additional 290,920 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Hershey by 57.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,352,000 after acquiring an additional 964,019 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,453,819 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $349,448,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY traded up $0.75 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $183.32. The stock had a trading volume of 1,620,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,995,545. The company has a market cap of $37.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $193.10 and a 200 day moving average of $191.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97. Hershey has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hershey will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 60.55%.

About Hershey

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.