Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Has $2.36 Million Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lifted its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 0.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,148 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 62 shares during the quarter. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Hershey by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,182,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,830,683,000 after purchasing an additional 271,636 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth $349,448,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 2.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,779,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $356,052,000 after buying an additional 35,393 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 2.2% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 997,329 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,085,000 after acquiring an additional 21,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Hershey by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Asset Management Inc. now owns 781,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,715,000 after acquiring an additional 112,304 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HSY has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Argus lowered their price objective on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $882,405. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

Hershey stock opened at $182.09 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $194.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $192.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.97. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $261.58.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s 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.