Here is What Hedge Funds Think About The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Is The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) the right pick for your portfolio? Investors who are in the know are becoming hopeful. The number of long hedge fund bets rose by 1 recently.

To the average investor, there are many gauges investors can use to monitor stocks. A couple of the most underrated are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the elite investment managers can outclass the S&P 500 by a superb amount (see just how much).

Equally as key, bullish insider trading sentiment is another way to parse down the world of equities. Obviously, there are a number of reasons for a bullish insider to drop shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Plenty of academic studies have demonstrated the market-beating potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).

Keeping this in mind, let’s take a gander at the recent action surrounding The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY).

How are hedge funds trading The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 23 of the hedge funds we track were bullish in this stock, a change of 5% from the third quarter. With the smart money’s capital changing hands, there exists an “upper tier” of notable hedge fund managers who were increasing their holdings considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, Jim Simons’s Renaissance Technologies had the biggest position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY), worth close to $150 million billion, comprising 0.4% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Citadel Investment Group, managed by Ken Griffin, which held a $137 million position; the fund has 0.2% of its 13F portfolio invested in the stock. Remaining hedgies that hold long positions include Steven Cohen’s SAC Capital Advisors, Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors and Israel Englander’s Millennium Management.

Consequently, specific money managers were breaking ground themselves. Alyeska Investment Group, managed by Anand Parekh, assembled the largest position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY). Alyeska Investment Group had 13 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates also initiated a $2 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new HSY positions are David Harding’s Winton Capital Management, Glenn Russell Dubin’s Highbridge Capital Management, and Louis Bacon’s Moore Global Investments.

What do corporate executives and insiders think about The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)?

Insider purchases made by high-level executives is at its handiest when the company we’re looking at has seen transactions within the past half-year. Over the latest half-year time frame, The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) has seen zero unique insiders purchasing, and 5 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the returns demonstrated by the aforementioned tactics, everyday investors should always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) is no exception.

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