1,173 Shares in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) Bought by Diversified LLC

Diversified LLC bought a new position in The Hershey Company (NYSE:HSY) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Hershey in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Hershey in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new position in Hershey in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Highlander Capital Management LLC raised its position in Hershey by 125.3% in the fourth quarter. Highlander Capital Management LLC now owns 169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. 57.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hershey Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE:HSY opened at $186.33 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $38.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.34. The Hershey Company has a one year low of $178.82 and a one year high of $276.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $192.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $190.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.97.

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

Hershey Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 20th were paid a $1.37 dividend. This represents a $5.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. This is an increase from Hershey’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.19. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 16th. Hershey’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hershey

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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 40,228 shares in the company, valued at $7,961,121.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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 shares were sold at an average price of $198.54, for a total value 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 $369,681.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Hershey from $205.00 to $200.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Hershey from $213.00 to $199.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Hershey from $200.00 to $179.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on 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 reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Hershey in a research report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $223.33.

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.