Herold Advisors Inc. Has $1.28 Million Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Herold Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 39.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,852 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,950 shares during the quarter. Herold Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $1,278,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new stake in Hershey during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the third quarter worth about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. First Financial Corp IN bought a new position in shares of Hershey in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Hershey

In other Hershey news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $296,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,961,121.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value of $89,938.62. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 1,862 shares in the company, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 3,453 shares of company stock valued at $665,534. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 15th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $223.33.

Hershey Stock Performance

NYSE HSY opened at $186.23 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.64. The Hershey Company has a 12-month low of $178.82 and a 12-month high of $276.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $37.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.07. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.72 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.02 EPS. Hershey’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given 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 2.94%. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.55%.

Hershey 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.