20,619 Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Acquired by Deane Retirement Strategies Inc.

Deane Retirement Strategies Inc. bought a new position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 20,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,844,000. Hershey comprises approximately 2.1% of Deane Retirement Strategies Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Hershey in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new stake in Hershey in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Hershey by 121.3% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 57.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Charles R. Raup sold 2,065 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.85, for a total value of $396,170.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 14,770 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,833,624.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,518 shares of company stock valued at $1,066,414. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on HSY shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 target price on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, March 15th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Hershey from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $250.00 to $200.00 in a report on Friday, December 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $225.48.

Hershey Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE HSY traded up $2.68 during trading on Thursday, hitting $196.39. 527,234 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,055,158. The business’s fifty day moving average is $193.22 and its 200 day moving average is $192.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a fifty-two week low of $178.82 and a fifty-two week high of $276.88.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

About Hershey

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.