Spectrum Strategic Capital Management LLC Takes $996,000 Position in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Spectrum Strategic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 5,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Friedenthal Financial grew its stake in Hershey by 38,266.7% in the fourth quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 5,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after purchasing an additional 5,740 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Hershey by 166.8% in the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 39,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after purchasing an additional 24,509 shares during the period. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Hershey in the third quarter worth $1,070,000. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in Hershey by 6.4% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 42,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,957,000 after purchasing an additional 2,573 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Hershey by 9.4% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 60,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,406,000 after purchasing an additional 5,239 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on HSY. UBS Group reduced their price target on Hershey from $215.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. TD Cowen raised Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Hershey in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.33.

Hershey Trading Down 0.1%

Hershey stock opened at $186.84 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $202.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $197.02. Hershey Company has a 12 month low of $150.04 and a 12 month high of $239.48. The company has a market capitalization of $37.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.07.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The company reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.04 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $3.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.03 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 28.98% and a net margin of 9.12%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hershey Company will post 8.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.452 per share. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 108.19%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jason Reiman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total transaction of $452,140.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 41,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,277,008.52. This represents a 4.65% 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. Also, insider Rohit Grover sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $226.07, for a total value of $791,245.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 34,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,814,787.76. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 10,000 shares of company stock valued at $2,189,090 over the last ninety days. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hershey Profile

The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is a leading North American chocolatier and snack manufacturer headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The company develops, produces and markets a wide range of confectionery and snack products for retail, foodservice and international customers. Hershey’s business spans manufacturing, branded product marketing, packaging and distribution across grocery, convenience, mass merchant and e-commerce channels.

Hershey’s product portfolio centers on chocolate and sugar confectionery, including core brands such as Hershey’s, Reese’s, Hershey’s Kisses and Twizzlers, alongside non-chocolate snacks and confectionery brands.