Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Sells 977 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,657 shares of the company’s stock after selling 977 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,139,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its position in Hershey by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 46,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,910,000 after buying an additional 3,578 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in Hershey by 53.4% in the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after buying an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Hershey by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 502 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management grew its holdings in Hershey by 20.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 2,567 shares of the company’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Hershey by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Glassy Mountain Advisors Inc. now owns 28,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,775,000 after buying an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

HSY opened at $161.83 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $163.17 and a 200-day moving average of $165.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.29. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $140.13 and a 12-month high of $208.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.81 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 44.77% and a net margin of 19.83%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.39%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is 67.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Hershey from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Hershey from $147.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Hershey from $183.00 to $177.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Hershey from $178.00 to $175.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price target on Hershey from $162.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and fifteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $158.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CEO Michele Buck sold 31,210 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.80, for a total transaction of $5,018,568.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 193,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,134,739.20. This represents a 13.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 974 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total transaction of $153,025.14. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,994 shares in the company, valued at $470,387.34. The trade was a 24.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.