The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Shares Purchased by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 909,237 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,076 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.44% of Hershey worth $169,518,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of HSY. 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 valued at $496,039,000 after acquiring an additional 1,453,819 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 18,495.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 295,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,125,000 after purchasing an additional 294,083 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 1.5% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,911,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,983,427,000 after purchasing an additional 222,960 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $33,672,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Hershey by 270.8% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 197,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,478,000 after acquiring an additional 144,103 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Edward Jones reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. BNP Paribas cut shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE HSY traded up $0.94 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $187.27. 338,438 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,955,226. The firm has a market cap of $38.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $192.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion during 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.02 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company 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 2.93%. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.