Capital Analysts LLC Invests $143,000 in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Capital Analysts LLC purchased a new position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Hershey by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $403,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Hershey by 574.9% in the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 15,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,930,000 after acquiring an additional 13,389 shares during the last quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Hershey by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,009 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,680,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors boosted its holdings in Hershey by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 2,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $848,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on HSY. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup cut their price target on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Up 1.3 %

HSY opened at $184.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The company’s 50-day moving average is $192.52 and its 200 day moving average is $191.07. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $276.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.55%.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $670,244 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.34% 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.