Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Raises Stock Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 9.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,823 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $549,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Hershey in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 125.3% during the 4th quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on HSY shares. BNP Paribas downgraded Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $191.00 to $183.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $212.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,196,824.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total value of $278,745.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HSY traded up $1.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $193.92. The stock had a trading volume of 3,132,628 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,972,461. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $39.55 billion, a PE ratio of 21.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.34. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $191.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $190.66. The Hershey Company has a 52 week low of $178.82 and a 52 week high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The business 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%. Hershey’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Hershey’s payout ratio is presently 60.55%.

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.