Jennison Associates LLC Increases Stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 483.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,881 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 115,912 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $26,079,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 143.7% during the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,039,000 after buying an additional 1,453,819 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 18,495.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 295,673 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,125,000 after buying an additional 294,083 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,911,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,983,427,000 after buying an additional 222,960 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new position in Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $33,672,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Hershey by 270.8% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 197,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,478,000 after purchasing an additional 144,103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $665,534 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 0.6 %

Hershey stock opened at $188.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $276.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $190.73.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.91%. 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on HSY. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

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.