Mather Group LLC. Acquires 779 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 80.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,743 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 10,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,961,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 744.1% during the 2nd quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 167,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,715,000 after buying an additional 147,291 shares during the period. Woodstock Corp grew its stake in Hershey by 65.5% in the 2nd quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 3,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares during the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in Hershey in the 2nd quarter worth $136,000. Finally, Stokes Family Office LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 1,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Hershey from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $179.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Argus dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $204.50.

Hershey Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE HSY traded up $2.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $201.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 349,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,852,213. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $189.87 and a 200 day moving average of $192.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $230.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 4.96 and a beta of 0.36.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. The company had revenue of $2.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.72%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total transaction of $306,810.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,614,615.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $867,450. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Company 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.