Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC Buys New Stake in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 3,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $558,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in HSY. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in Hershey by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 12,460,147 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,110,126,000 after buying an additional 2,980,997 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,003,000 after buying an additional 247,675 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Hershey by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,801,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,139,000 after buying an additional 47,394 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Hershey by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,578,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $267,396,000 after buying an additional 154,238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,282,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,222,000 after buying an additional 87,498 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on HSY shares. Piper Sandler lowered shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $153.00 to $120.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $162.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $161.40.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $158.49 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $209.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $32.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $166.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.84.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.15. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. The firm had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.07 EPS. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.57%.

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.