Kraft Davis & Associates LLC Buys New Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Kraft Davis & Associates LLC acquired a new position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PFS Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Hershey by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. PFS Investments Inc. now owns 1,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Cassia Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 3.2% during the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,675 shares of the company’s stock worth $335,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Hershey by 1.4% in the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 3,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $792,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its holdings in Hershey by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Hershey by 0.4% in the third quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 14,261 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,853,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

NYSE:HSY traded up $0.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $185.02. The company had a trading volume of 1,740,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,981,138. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $276.88. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $192.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $190.97. The company has a market capitalization of $37.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total transaction of $283,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,634,329.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $188.97, for a total value of $283,455.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 29,816 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,634,329.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $670,244 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HSY. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.33.

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.