Short Interest in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Rises By 14.4%

The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,300,000 shares, an increase of 14.4% from the March 15th total of 3,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.81.

Hershey Stock Performance

Hershey stock traded up $0.75 on Tuesday, hitting $183.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,620,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,995,545. The firm has a market cap of $37.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $193.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.17. Hershey has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hershey will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s payout ratio is 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares in the company, valued at $5,634,329.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Hershey news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total value of $396,170.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,770 shares in the company, valued at $2,833,624.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 29,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,634,329.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,518 shares of company stock worth $1,066,414. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Hershey

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HSY. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 121.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

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.