Oak Harvest Investment Services Boosts Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 10.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,225 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,732 shares during the quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services’ holdings in Hershey were worth $7,331,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Hershey by 14.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,341,721 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,372,965,000 after purchasing an additional 2,158,912 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,487,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,327,000 after buying an additional 90,329 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 787,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,743,000 after buying an additional 25,780 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Hershey by 23.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 783,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $143,962,000 after acquiring an additional 147,215 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC raised its position in Hershey by 297.9% in the second quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 717,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,959,000 after acquiring an additional 537,419 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Hershey from $179.00 to $165.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $195.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $195.00 to $182.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Hershey from $209.00 to $205.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Hershey in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. They set a “sell” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $191.11.

Hershey Stock Performance

Hershey stock opened at $177.48 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $191.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $192.52. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $176.78 and a 52 week high of $211.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.30 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,912.46. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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; 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.