Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Raises Stock Holdings in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,339 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.’s holdings in Hershey were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $651,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in shares of Hershey by 204.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 15,736 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,934,000 after buying an additional 10,559 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hershey in the 4th quarter worth about $566,000. Meritage Portfolio Management increased its stake in shares of Hershey by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 47,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,887,000 after acquiring an additional 3,430 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its position in Hershey by 1,263.3% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 15,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,816,000 after acquiring an additional 13,997 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HSY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Hershey from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Hershey from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $191.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Hershey from $185.00 to $193.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Edward Jones restated a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday, April 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hershey has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $223.33.

Hershey Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE HSY traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $186.23. The stock had a trading volume of 1,186,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,945,917. The Hershey Company has a 52-week low of $178.82 and a 52-week 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $191.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $190.64. The firm has a market cap of $37.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.34.

Hershey (NYSE:HSY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.72 billion. Hershey had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 51.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. Analysts expect that The Hershey Company will post 9.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hershey Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were issued a dividend of $1.37 per share. This represents a $5.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. This is a positive change from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 16th. 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.