Rialto Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,305 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in Hershey by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,348,127,000 after buying an additional 386,670 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,635,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $785,003,000 after acquiring an additional 247,675 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hershey by 1.0% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,753,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,606,000 after acquiring an additional 35,688 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 66.7% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,571,000 after purchasing an additional 389,404 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.2% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 964,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,027,000 after purchasing an additional 29,507 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value of $41,144.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 2,682 shares in the company, valued at $396,936. This trade represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HSY opened at $185.11 on Friday. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $140.13 and a fifty-two week high of $211.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $37.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.54.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $2.69 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.40 by $0.29. Hershey had a net margin of 19.83% and a return on equity of 44.77%. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 6.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 50.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on HSY. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Hershey from $150.00 to $134.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $178.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $170.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bernstein Bank cut their target price on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Hershey from $189.00 to $163.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.15.

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.