GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Purchases 3,052 Shares of Hershey Company (The) $HSY

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. raised its position in shares of Hershey Company (The) (NYSE:HSY) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,382 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,052 shares during the quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $9,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HSY. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Hershey by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 15,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Hershey by 20.2% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 697 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new stake in Hershey during the 2nd quarter worth about $267,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its holdings in Hershey by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 17,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,975,000 after acquiring an additional 769 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Hershey by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 22,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,149 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hershey Trading Down 4.2%

HSY opened at $185.92 on Tuesday. Hershey Company has a 1-year low of $157.77 and a 1-year high of $239.48. 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 company has a market cap of $37.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $196.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.76.

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

Hershey Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Hershey from $247.00 to $227.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Stephens increased their price target on Hershey from $200.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Hershey from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Hershey from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $218.06.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.10, for a total transaction of $291,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 57,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,198,599.50. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.