Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC Has $2.78 Million Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 11.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,305 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,586 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $2,777,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Hershey by 1,194.0% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 249,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,837,000 after acquiring an additional 230,077 shares during the period. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Hershey by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. SYSTM Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 33,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,126,000 after buying an additional 1,478 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in Hershey by 163.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 2,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 1,705 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Hershey by 14.9% in the 2nd quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,077,000 after buying an additional 2,167 shares during the period. Finally, Connors Investor Services Inc. increased its holdings in Hershey by 729.9% in the 2nd quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc. now owns 11,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus lowered shares of Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $183.00 to $188.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target 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. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $203.21.

Hershey Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $195.23 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $39.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.77 and a beta of 0.37. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.86. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $196.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $194.03.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 45.36% and a net margin of 16.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total value of $286,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 34,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,729.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.83, for a total transaction of $286,245.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 34,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,531,729.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total transaction of $107,153.46. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $644,912.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,538 shares of company stock worth $667,793 in the last quarter. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.