Wealth Effects LLC Purchases New Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Wealth Effects LLC purchased a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 2,117 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $389,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Hershey by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 121,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,595,000 after purchasing an additional 1,921 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 67.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 886 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $720,000. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in Hershey by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 18,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,371,000 after acquiring an additional 3,769 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Hershey by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 11,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,175,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total value of $274,395.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 35,728 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,535,723.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $182.93, for a total transaction of $274,395.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 35,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,535,723.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 538 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $199.17, for a total value of $107,153.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $644,912.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,538 shares of company stock worth $667,793 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Hershey in a report on Monday, August 12th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $185.00 target price for the company. Citigroup downgraded Hershey from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $195.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $237.00 to $230.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $210.00 to $204.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $179.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $202.79.

Hershey Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE HSY traded up $1.70 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $199.04. The stock had a trading volume of 161,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,782,157. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $214.66. The firm has a market cap of $40.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 5.60 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $192.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $193.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by ($0.17). Hershey had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 45.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.30 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. 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.