Tyler Stone Wealth Management Acquires 504 Shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 31.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,114 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Tyler Stone Wealth Management’s holdings in Hershey were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HSY. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth $80,978,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 66.7% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 972,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,571,000 after acquiring an additional 389,404 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Hershey by 5.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,029,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,348,127,000 after purchasing an additional 386,670 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted 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 valued at $785,003,000 after purchasing an additional 247,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $21,439,000. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on HSY. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Hershey from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Barclays decreased their price target on Hershey from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Hershey from $190.00 to $172.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup raised Hershey from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $159.00 to $154.00 in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Bernstein Bank cut their price target on shares of Hershey from $177.00 to $146.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and sixteen have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.50.

Hershey Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:HSY opened at $168.44 on Thursday. The Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $211.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $163.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.96 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $34.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 50.28%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 278 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total value of $41,144.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $396,936. This represents a 9.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.