Cerity Partners LLC Raises Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 64.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,086 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,249 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $3,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 30,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,665,000 after buying an additional 916 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 1st quarter valued at $238,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 28.8% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $339,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,057,990 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,045,383,000 after buying an additional 216,715 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of Hershey by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 32,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,972,000 after buying an additional 3,129 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other Hershey news, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,833,624.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’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 value 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 approximately $5,634,329.52. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total transaction of $396,170.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,833,624.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on HSY. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 29th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. 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 report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY opened at $182.45 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $276.88. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $192.87 and its 200 day moving average is $191.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. Research analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s payout ratio is 60.55%.

Hershey Profile

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.