Stephens Inc. AR Sells 5,340 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Stephens Inc. AR decreased its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 52,405 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,340 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Hershey were worth $9,646,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 3,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 1,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. BSW Wealth Partners boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 1,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Bellevue Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Asset Management LLC now owns 514 shares of the company’s stock worth $96,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners boosted its position in shares of Hershey by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 1,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HSY. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $215.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $212.00 to $200.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $218.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $791,245.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,189,090. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of HSY opened at $186.84 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $202.63 and a 200 day moving average of $196.91. Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $150.04 and a fifty-two week high of $239.48. The firm has a market cap of $37.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company had revenue of $3.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Hershey Company will post 8.45 EPS for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $1.452 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $5.81 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 108.19%.

Hershey Company Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.