Syon Capital LLC Buys Shares of 3,037 The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Syon Capital LLC bought a new stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,037 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $566,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wealth Alliance boosted its position in Hershey by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after buying an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. AJOVista LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at $153,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 1,263.3% during the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 13,997 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at $2,332,000. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter valued at $4,173,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $882,405 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Argus lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $210.56.

Hershey Trading Up 0.7 %

HSY opened at $186.98 on Monday. The Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $263.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $37.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $195.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.54.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The business’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.96 earnings per share. Analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

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.