Van ECK Associates Corp Acquires 3,003 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 11.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 28,392 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,003 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Hershey were worth $5,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Alliance boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth approximately $153,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 1,263.3% during the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 13,997 shares in the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,332,000. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,173,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total transaction of $306,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,614,615.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $859,950 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on HSY shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $179.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 30th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $209.67.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY traded down $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $183.17. The company had a trading volume of 745,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,876,769. The stock has a market cap of $37.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $178.82 and a 1 year high of $249.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $193.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.10.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. The company had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Hershey 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.