The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY – Get Rating) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $262.64 and last traded at $261.36, with a volume of 224432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $260.42.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several brokerages have recently issued reports on HSY. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 26th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Hershey from $250.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, March 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Hershey in a report on Thursday, April 13th. They set a “hold” rating and a $243.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hershey from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $230.00 to $255.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 29th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $222.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.94.
Hershey Stock Performance
The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average is $247.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $235.59. The company has a market cap of $53.22 billion, a PE ratio of 32.77, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.31.
Hershey Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.036 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 16th. This represents a $4.14 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.59%. Hershey’s payout ratio is currently 52.01%.
Insider Transactions at Hershey
In other news, CEO Michele Buck sold 14,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.43, for a total transaction of $3,654,383.93. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 141,751 shares in the company, valued at $36,349,208.93. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Rohit Grover sold 1,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.79, for a total transaction of $287,672.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,999 shares in the company, valued at $4,631,766.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michele Buck sold 14,251 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $256.43, for a total transaction of $3,654,383.93. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 141,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,349,208.93. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 51,340 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,371. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Hershey
Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 1.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,528,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,203,060,000 after acquiring an additional 245,084 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 3.4% during the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 14,486,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,193,800,000 after purchasing an additional 473,552 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Hershey by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,199,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,587,354,000 after purchasing an additional 18,326 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,198,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $740,848,000 after buying an additional 41,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Hershey by 57.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $613,352,000 after buying an additional 964,019 shares in the last quarter. 54.17% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
About Hershey
The Hershey Co engages in the manufacture and marketing of chocolate, sweets, mints and confectionery products. The firm operates through the following geographical segments: North America and International and Other. The North America is responsible for the traditional chocolate and non-chocolate confectionery market position of the company, as well as its grocery and snacks market positions, in the United States and Canada.
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