Costello Asset Management INC Boosts Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Costello Asset Management INC lifted its holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 120.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 275 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC’s holdings in Hershey were worth $51,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cassia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Helios Capital Management PTE. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $802,000. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE increased its position in shares of Hershey by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Lawson Kroeker Investment Management Inc. NE now owns 49,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,235,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares in the last quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Hershey by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 26,919 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,019,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Hershey by 32.1% in the fourth quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 1,466 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Hershey from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. BNP Paribas lowered shares of 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. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hershey presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $224.81.

Hershey Stock Performance

Shares of Hershey stock traded down $4.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $185.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,167,280 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,990,252. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $191.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $276.88. The stock has a market cap of $37.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a $1.37 dividend. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.55%.

Insider Transactions at Hershey

In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,518 shares of company stock worth $1,066,414. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.