The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Stock Holdings Boosted by Wealth Alliance

Wealth Alliance lifted its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 9.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,137 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Wealth Alliance’s holdings in Hershey were worth $212,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,911,173 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,983,427,000 after buying an additional 222,960 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Hershey by 9.1% in the 1st quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,489,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $886,746,000 after buying an additional 290,920 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Hershey by 57.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,648,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $613,352,000 after buying an additional 964,019 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Hershey by 143.7% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,465,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $496,039,000 after buying an additional 1,453,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Hershey by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,779,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,052,000 after buying an additional 35,393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the 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 directly owns 29,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,634,329.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the 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 directly owns 29,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,634,329.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $670,244 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. Barclays increased their target price 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. Edward Jones reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price target for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.33.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY stock opened at $185.02 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $192.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $190.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend 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.