abrdn plc Increases Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

abrdn plc boosted its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 67.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 63,467 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,608 shares during the quarter. abrdn plc’s holdings in Hershey were worth $11,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Highlander Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hershey by 125.3% during the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. 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 dropped 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, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup dropped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.33.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of HSY opened at $187.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $38.17 billion, a PE ratio of 20.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $190.71. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.93%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.