Valley Wealth Managers Inc. Has $366,000 Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 64.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,882 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 735 shares during the quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $366,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Alliance grew its position in Hershey by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $212,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. AJOVista LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth $153,000. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 1,263.3% in the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,816,000 after purchasing an additional 13,997 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth $2,332,000. Finally, Reliant Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth $4,173,000. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Argus decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, April 19th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $209.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total transaction of $306,810.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,614,615.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $859,950. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:HSY traded up $0.48 during trading on Thursday, hitting $186.16. 1,327,478 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,863,615. The firm has a market cap of $37.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48, a PEG ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $193.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $192.25. 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 1-year low of $178.82 and a 1-year high of $248.93.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 3rd. The company reported $3.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 18.13% and a return on equity of 50.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.96 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.31%.

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.