Xponance Inc. Purchases 476 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,288 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 476 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $5,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in Hershey by 3.1% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,665,000 after purchasing an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management acquired a new position in Hershey in the first quarter valued at about $238,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 28.8% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Hershey by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,057,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,045,383,000 after acquiring an additional 216,715 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its stake in Hershey by 10.8% in the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 32,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,972,000 after acquiring an additional 3,129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley cut Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Barclays upped their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,634,329.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,634,329.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, 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 3,453 shares of company stock worth $670,244 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $185.02 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $37.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 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 $276.88. The business’s 50 day moving average is $192.31 and its 200-day moving average is $190.97.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.96%. 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 (DPR) is 60.55%.

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.