First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown Has $311,000 Position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown lifted its holdings in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 7.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,666 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the quarter. First National Bank & Trust Co. of Newtown’s holdings in Hershey were worth $311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in shares of Hershey by 121.3% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 135 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of Hershey during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on HSY shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Hershey from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $235.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Hershey in a report on Friday, March 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $223.33.

Hershey Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Hershey stock traded down $0.64 on Friday, hitting $184.22. The stock had a trading volume of 756,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,967,801. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $192.52 and a 200 day moving average of $191.07. The Hershey Company has a twelve month low of $178.82 and a twelve month high of $276.88. 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 $37.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a $1.37 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hershey news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total value of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 40,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $670,244. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hershey Company 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.