Harbour Investments Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Hershey Company (The) $HSY

Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 78.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,440 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,158 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Friedenthal Financial increased its stake in Hershey by 38,266.7% in the 4th quarter. Friedenthal Financial now owns 5,755 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,047,000 after buying an additional 5,740 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 166.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 39,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after buying an additional 24,509 shares during the period. Winnow Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,070,000. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in Hershey by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 42,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,957,000 after buying an additional 2,573 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 60,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,406,000 after buying an additional 5,239 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total value of $291,150.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,198,599.50. This trade represents a 2.53% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on HSY shares. TD Cowen raised shares of Hershey from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $240.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $185.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $230.00 to $208.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $220.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.06.

Hershey Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Hershey stock opened at $196.87 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 0.77. Hershey Company has a 1 year low of $154.37 and a 1 year high of $239.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $197.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.48. The stock has a market cap of $39.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.66, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.07.

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

Hershey Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.452 dividend. This represents a $5.81 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 108.19%.

About Hershey

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.