Heritage Wealth Management LLC Invests $626,000 in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Heritage Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $626,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its stake in shares of Hershey by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its position in Hershey by 1.1% in the third quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 5,258 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. increased its stake in Hershey by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 5,839 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Hershey by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Hershey by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $212,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 57.96% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HSY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Hershey from $195.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. BNP Paribas cut Hershey from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $208.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Edward Jones reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research note on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $212.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

In other news, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total transaction of $89,938.62. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Steven E. Voskuil sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.83, for a total transaction of $278,745.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 38,728 shares in the company, valued at $7,196,824.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jennifer Mccalman sold 453 shares of Hershey stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,453 shares of company stock worth $665,534 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Hershey Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:HSY traded up $1.20 on Thursday, reaching $194.90. The company had a trading volume of 450,098 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,951,250. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.75 billion, a PE ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.33. 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 Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week high of $276.71. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $191.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $190.68.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last posted its 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. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a return on equity of 51.79% and a net margin of 16.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were given a dividend of $1.37 per share. This is a boost from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.