Nordea Investment Management AB Lowers Stock Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Nordea Investment Management AB lessened its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,011,584 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,302 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB owned approximately 0.49% of Hershey worth $251,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 1.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,057,990 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,045,383,000 after buying an additional 216,715 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hershey by 9.1% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,489,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $886,746,000 after purchasing an additional 290,920 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of Hershey by 57.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,352,000 after buying an additional 964,019 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth $411,828,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Hershey by 26.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,738,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $442,308,000 after acquiring an additional 360,132 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 56.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas raised Hershey from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $268.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hershey in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $260.00 to $240.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 28th. TD Cowen began coverage on Hershey in a report on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Hershey from $252.00 to $249.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $264.11.

Hershey Stock Performance

HSY traded up $0.04 on Friday, hitting $211.83. 222,346 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,111,908. The company has a current ratio of 1.06, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $206.69 and a twelve month high of $276.88. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $225.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $245.96. The firm has a market cap of $43.31 billion, a PE ratio of 24.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.29.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.89 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $2.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.50 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 55.74% and a net margin of 16.49%. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Investors of record on Friday, August 18th will be issued a $1.192 dividend. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.04. This represents a $4.77 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 17th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.89%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In related news, Director Pamela M. Arway sold 187 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.66, for a total transaction of $45,190.42. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,529 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,752,738.14. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Hershey Trust Co Trustee In Tr sold 30,988 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.14, for a total value of $8,061,218.32. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,083,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $541,965,010.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Pamela M. Arway sold 187 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $241.66, for a total value of $45,190.42. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,529 shares in the company, valued at $3,752,738.14. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 81,296 shares of company stock worth $20,782,032. 0.34% of the stock is owned by 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; pantry items, such as baking ingredients, toppings, beverages, and sundae syrups; and snack items comprising spreads, bars, snack bites, mixes, popcorn, and pretzels.