HB Wealth Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 27.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,864 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $349,448,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 18,495.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 295,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,125,000 after buying an additional 294,083 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hershey by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,182,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,830,683,000 after acquiring an additional 271,636 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Hershey by 98.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 419,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,680,000 after acquiring an additional 208,293 shares during the period. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,500 shares of company stock worth $859,950. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Argus lowered their price target on Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $209.67.

Hershey Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:HSY traded down $0.75 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $183.00. The company had a trading volume of 664,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,876,143. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.10. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $249.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 0.36.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.11 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.96 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Hershey Company 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.