Jacobi Capital Management LLC Has $787,000 Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,046 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 417 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $787,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HSY. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in Hershey by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 3,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $679,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its holdings in Hershey by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 15,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,918,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Hershey by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 30,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,610,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Hershey during the 4th quarter worth about $736,000. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.54, for a total value of $306,810.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,614,615.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 4,500 shares of company stock valued at $859,950. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Stock Up 0.1 %

Hershey stock traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $191.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,675,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,850,569. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $192.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $192.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.97. The Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $178.82 and a 12 month high of $247.11. The company has a market capitalization of $38.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.28 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.33. The business had revenue of $3.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.11 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 50.15% and a net margin of 18.13%. Hershey’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.86%. Hershey’s payout ratio is 54.31%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Edward Jones reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Argus decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $240.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. BNP Paribas downgraded 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Hershey from $205.00 to $195.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $205.65.

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.